


The Mirror of His Dreams

by Beltenebra, myxstorie



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (2010), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Related Fandoms, Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment, Kanjani8 (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2013-08-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 17:27:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/942619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beltenebra/pseuds/Beltenebra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/myxstorie/pseuds/myxstorie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just <i>how</i> is a raven like a writing desk?</p>
<p>This fic is the submission of Team Wit or Without You (myself and the lovely and talented <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"><a href="http://myxstorie.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://myxstorie.livejournal.com/"><b>myxstorie</b></a></span> for the 2010 <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"></span><a href="http://je-devilorangel.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://je-devilorangel.livejournal.com/"><b>je_devilorangel</b></a> challenge. It was originally posted here (<a href="http://community.livejournal.com/je_devilorangel/5996.html">1</a>, <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/je_devilorangel/6382.html#cutid1">2</a>, and <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/je_devilorangel/6569.html#cutid1">3</a>).</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mirror of His Dreams

Koyama stared blankly at the blinking cursor of his word processor for a few moments, trying to force his brain into continued contemplation of his history essay. His fingers drifted listlessly with his thoughts.

_It can not be denied that the shogunate's push for increased industrialization in the form of shipyards and iron works led to increased contact with Western cultures which ultimately contributed heavily to the downfall of rigid four-class system the bakufu had attempted to solidify. The agrarian class was growing richer due to the increasing practice of leasing their land to other farmers. And who could blame them really. Who wouldn't rather be a landlord than spending their days grubbing around in a field? Although, to be honest, right now I would be perfectly willing to hoe or harvest or whatever it is that farmers do if it got me out of one more "historical retrospective" on the effects of the stupid Meiji Restoration._

"I mean, there are so many other parts of this country's history we could talk about…" he finished his thoughts out loud before refocusing on his screen, realizing that he had rambled right into his essay. "Whoops."

Furious backspacing left his paper even farther from his required word count but he couldn't bear the thought of sitting at his desk for another second. Time for a break. He pushed his chair back, stood and stretched, eying his long torso appreciatively in the mirror. How long had it been since he had gone _out_? He could feel the restless energy coiled in his limbs, winding down his arms and legs. He needed to walk, to run, to move with abandon. A dance club could be just the kind of distraction he was looking for.

He changed into his favorite, perfectly broken-in jeans and a simple black shirt that showed off his arms before grabbing his wallet and heading out into the twilight street.

It was autumn in Tokyo, and the trees were fighting their last, brave battle against winter, staining the landscape red and gold with their efforts. Koyama loved the changing of the seasons. He always looked forward to the world in transition, eager to see a new palette of colors emerge. He admired the effects of neon lights against the trees as he emerged from the train station and made his way toward a strip of bars and clubs. He had a vague idea that a dance club a classmate had been raving about a few weeks ago was around here somewhere.

Full dark had fallen by the time he found the club. He inspected the sign out front advertising the nightly drink specials and the "Badass Freestylin' of Da Joker" who Koyama assumed must be the DJ responsible for the heavy hip hop beat practically vibrating the front door in its frame. It wasn't his favorite kind of music but right now his only requirements were dark, loud, and full of beer. This place probably met them. A pack of well-heeled girls jostled him in their haste to get in, causing him to drop both his wallet and phone, and as he crouched down to scoop them up, a flash of red light caught his eye.

His eyes slid past the club to an alleyway he hadn't noticed until just now. There was the red again, it revealed itself to be an old-fashioned neon sign, a blinking arrow indicating an unassuming flight of steps that led down, presumably to a door. The small cursive letters beneath the arrow indicated that it was pointing the way to "Warren's", whatever _that_ was. His curiosity piqued, he drifted close enough to look down the stairs. The door was painted a shockingly bright shade of blue but otherwise revealed nothing of the nature of the room beyond it. The door had no handle, no visible method to gain entrance from the outside. It did however, have a small rectangular window at just about eye height. He was officially intrigued, maybe it was some sort of private club, invitation only?

Koyama knocked politely three times and only jumped a little when the window slid open abruptly with a loud, metallic snap. He only had a moment to take in the large, dark, slightly manic eyes that filled the small window before a brash voice with a distinctly Osakan accent queried, "How is a raven like a writing desk?"

"Huh?" Koyama was understandably confused.

"A raven." The voice repeated, clearly amused. "How is it like unto a writing desk?"

"Oh. It's a riddle?"

"Pin-pon. Give the boy a prize." The voice intoned wryly.

Koyama scrunched his nose a bit in response. He was in the process of being college educated, it was just a simple riddle, he could totally do this! "Umm, ok… well, ravens are black, right? And so is ink? So… maybe they are both covered in black? Of course, that supposes really messy students. And who uses actual ink anymore… Doorman-san, how old is this riddle anyway? I need some kind of temporal context!"

The eyes disappeared amid a small storm of giggling. Koyama assumed the man must be bent double laughing at him. The man caught his breath and the eyes were back, sparking merrily. "Whoo! Not even close, but it was a good try. And it's more fun than I've had in a while, most people aren't willing to play along. So I think I'll let you in anyway."

Koyama took half a step back in surprise as the window slammed shut and the door opened, swinging in soundlessly. He was feeling very off-kilter but after that, he was kind of obligated to go in, wasn't he? He could always leave if it was too strange… he should have a drink at least. He stepped over the threshold into a dimly lit anteroom. The door shut firmly behind him and revealed the doorkeeper, a short man with long dark hair covered by a spunky red fedora.

His smile, while not unfriendly, was every bit as deranged as his eyes had suggested. "I'm Baru." He pointed back to some shimmery curtains, "That's the bar-u." Koyama nodded and made his way onward, just before he stepped through he heard the voice once more, drifting over his shoulder suddenly sounding like it was coming from a long way away, “Have fun, kiddo, don’t get lost in the woods.”

Koyama turned to look back, intending to get an explanation _really, woods?_ but the room was empty, the door shrouded in shadows. His swallow was audible, he pushed down his nervousness. It was just a club and he was not exactly a stranger to that scene. He would go in and dance and have a beer, it would be that simple. He pushed the curtain aside and stepped into a galaxy of lights.

He spent a few moments standing in the doorway, no doubt blocking the entrance though politeness was the farthest thing from his mind as he blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the dizzying array of light and color. The room was cavernous, he looked up and up, and the view just kept going. He couldn't even make out the ceiling clearly, although he thought he could see faint movement in the shadows overhead. He frowned a bit, trying to remember the outside of the building and failing to reconcile the height of the ceiling and the existence of the other nightclub that he had seen situated above this one at street-level. Maybe they were really just different entrances to the same club? That must be it. He couldn't see any light riggings or speakers, they must have spent a fortune making them blend in to the décor.

A nagging little voice reminded him that the music was nothing like what he had heard spilling out onto the sidewalk. The room was alive with sound; some sinuous repetitive melody with a compelling bass beat and a strangely beautiful chorus of voices chanting in a language he didn't know but that sounded familiar, could be Latin, commanded his attention. It made him want to move, just throw himself into the throng of dancers, but he held back still trying to get an idea of the energy of the place.

He edged his way along the fringes of the crowd. It was a gathering unlike anything he had ever seen. The lights were dizzying but he could make out a throng of beautiful people, many of them dressed in the oddest of clothes. Now, he was no stranger to the bizarre trends in Japanese fashion but this was the most mind-boggling tableau he had ever seen.

There was a group of men decked out entirely in leathers, but not sleek, modern fetish-style leathers; these were more like vests and leggings and braces with buckles that looked all too functional, well worn in like they had seen plenty of action on some fairy-tale battlefield. But the vicious looking knives they had strapped to their torsos couldn't have been real. There were beautiful women in gowns, things that looked like old European styles, all brocade and silk, and others in true Victorian-era clothes, beautifully patterned waistcoats and delicate frills that were everything the Gothic Lolita movement wish it had enough class to emulate.

He saw people dressed like storybook creatures, people with shining wings at their shoulder blades, a knot of lovely young women with their hair dyed green and vines twined around their limbs. It must be some kind of costume party, it was certainly the right time of the year for it. But these costumes were undoubtedly the most elaborate ones he had seen in person.

He passed a man in a mask featuring green, leathery skin and a long hooked nose. When the man raised his eyebrows at him the mask moved almost naturally. It must have cost a fortune. A tall, icy-pale lady glided past him and when she smiled, he swore he could feel a gust of frigid wind on his neck. He shivered violently and for just a moment he was overwhelmed by the scent of snowy pines. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he caught sight of a woman in an elaborate kimono with the _head_ of a _fox_ and that couldn't be right.

He had no idea how he had managed to get into this place. There were a few people who seemed to be in normal street clothes but even they seemed to be a world away from him. They seemed completely at ease. A few kids in jeans and t-shirts to his left were joking in what sounded like perfectly normal high-school kid Japanese. Koyama noted their scuffed sneakers and ripped jeans and was relieved that there was at least someone here he could identify with. One of the girls tipped her head back and laughed throatily, and when her companion turned to reply he looked up just in time to see Koyama watching him.

His eyes were…silver. They were perfectly smooth orbs of silver, they even shone like metal, the most spectacular contact lenses Koyama had ever seen. He turned his head a little, unable to stop himself from staring but trying, at least, to not be too obvious about it. The boy was onto him, winking at Koyama as he waved his hand lazily and a halo of tiny, dancing lights blinked into existence around his head, throwing tiny shadows across his dark hair. The girls laughed at what Koyama assumed must be the fairly shocked expression on his face and he flushed with embarrassment. He felt the uneasiness churning in his gut, sure now that he wasn't supposed to be here. He cast a quick glance back over his shoulder, but he could no longer see the curtained doorway he had entered through.

He tamped down his rising panic. The music was winding its way through his skull, he could feel the rhythm buzzing in the back of his mind and while he knew intellectually that he should go, he couldn't help but feel that the music was pushing him onward.

But that was ridiculous. He had heard of music being used to suggest a mood but it couldn't just make you feel a specific emotion. Clearly, he was overdue for a drink. If he could get to the bar he could sit down, have a drink, and as calmly as possible ask for the fastest route to an exit.

As he made his way to the bar someone jostled his elbow.

"I'm terribly sorry," the stranger murmured quietly.

Koyama only had a moment to wonder how he could hear the person perfectly clearly when the music was so loud before he turned to address the person and was dumbfounded. Right next to him was one of the most beautiful men Koyama had ever seen. He was shorter than Koyama by a handful of centimeters, his face delicate but saved from perfection by a once-broken nose that only managed to look charming. His hair fell smoothly down around his cheeks and he seemed to be sporting rabbit ears, of all things. Slim, silky looking rabbit ears covered in white fur and… Koyama leaned back just a fraction to check, yes, a matching fluffy, white tail. The man was dressed impeccably in tailored black slacks and a waistcoat in a rich wine-colored brocade, a silver watch-chain trailed into one of his pockets.

The man cleared his throat delicately and Koyama guiltily wrenched his eyes up to meet the other man's pointed stare. The man arched a slim brow and Koyama felt his cheeks flame, but before he could apologize the man continued, "Excuse me, please", and pushed his way right past Koyama, melting into the crowd like he had never been there at all.

Koyama blinked a few times at the space the man had been standing in, having been amazingly quick in his getaway. But he had gone in the direction of the bar, which was where Koyama was headed anyway. Maybe if he was lucky, he could catch up with him.

The bar was a long, sleek affair in black glass that looked fairly plain until Koyama brushed his fingers along the slick surface. Swirls of color rose up, trailing behind his fingers, glowing sudden and bright like the afterimage of fireworks in the dark. The lights glittered for a few moments then faded away, leaving the bar once more perfectly cold and dark. Koyama pressed his fingers down again, just to make sure, and the lights moved with his hand as he stood there, transfixed. It seemed like it should be some kind of extremely expensive liquid crystal display, but the glass felt perfectly solid under his hand.

"It's a neat trick, huh?"

Koyama snatched his hand back like he had been burned. The man behind the bar smiled, a sly, crooked twist of full lips and gestured at the bar stool behind Koyama. Koyama sat and gave the man he presumed to be the bartender a once over. He was dressed in a perfectly fit, burgundy velvet suit; a black top hat perched upon his head setting off the rakish angle of his grin. Koyama couldn't help but smile back as he took a seat.

"It's a nice little effect, very pretty. Hard to imagine that it's fueled by the soul of a forsaken child."

"It- I- _What_?!" Koyama knew his eyes must be comically wide, his face frozen in shock. The bartender just chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Oh okay, you got me. It's really only about half a soul." He accompanied the quip with a careless little slicing motion of his hand and a wink.

Koyama tried to laugh, but it sounded forced and nervous. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, determined not to let this man rattle him. When he opened them again, he found a glass sitting on the bar in front of him.

He looked up and cocked an eyebrow at the bartender who smiled again. For some reason, this time the smile put Koyama at ease. He felt a little of the tension drain out of his shoulders.

"You can call me Yoko. You looked like you could use a drink."

Koyama nodded, "You can say that again."

Yoko grinned toothily, "You looked like you could use a drink."

Koyama rolled his eyes at the joke and inspected the glass. It was a tall, slim glass tumbler, the rim chased in delicate silver filigree, and it was filled to the brim with a vivid green liquid. There were no ice cubes in the glass but it was cool to the touch; the mixture seeming to glow softly in the dim light.

Koyama lifted the glass up to his nose and sniffed at it; a sharp, sweet scent assaulted his nostrils. Almost immediately he felt a wave of something like nostalgia, a warm but bittersweet pang of memory for something that was no longer there. He breathed deep, it was a very pleasant ache. "What is this?"

"Absence."

"Absinthe?"

"No, Absence. They say it makes the heart grow fonder. My specialty, on the house."

Koyama set the glass back down on the bar, immediately wary. "Thanks, but… what makes it glow like that? It's not that stuff they put in glow sticks, right? Is it safe?"

"Well, it won't kill you, kid."

He was just about to begin a litany of all the things he could think of that wouldn't kill him, but were still rather unpleasant when he looked back down at the glass and noticed the writing. Etched into the bottom of the glass, backwards so you could read it from above, in lovely curling script were the words: 'Drink Me'.

Yoko was still smiling when he looked up. He narrowed his eyes, "Was that writing there when I looked just a moment ago?"

The bartender shrugged and put on a very unconvincing innocent expression. "Don't ask me, I just serve the drinks. It's uncanny sometimes how things seem to appear as if by magic, just because we notice them. If we don't see something the first time we look, does that mean it isn't there or that we aren't looking the right way?" Koyama stared at him, more than a little dumbfounded.

The other man chuckled, "Yeah, I get that a lot. If I were you, I would do what the glass says."

And just like that Koyama was fed up. Fed up with himself, of his nervousness and caution, fed up with feeling out of place and not good enough. Without really thinking it through any farther, he picked up the glass and drained the drink in several long, cool swallows.

He started feeling the effects immediately. His fingers and toes were pleasantly tingly, his chest felt much lighter. Everywhere he looked there was color and light and movement and it was all so much _more._ Like he had been looking at everything through smoked glass that had suddenly been whisked away. Clear and sharp, he could see all of the details now, could see the nap of the velvet of Yoko's jacket, could read the labels on the rainbow of glass bottles behind the bar (although they were nothing familiar to him), while the drops of condensation on his empty glass glittered like diamonds.

When he turned to look at the rest of the room, he was practically assaulted with sensation. He could see the patterns the music was making, weaving through the crowd in colored skeins, he could hear exotic fragrances of pine, silver, and spicy herbs, each smell a different tone in the chorus of sounds, he could taste the dancing lights bursting across his vision like ripe berries.

People in the crowd moved and swirled, the eddies of the dance shifting like glass in a kaleidoscope. The scattered edges of the scene realigned and clicked and now he could see clearly.

What had seemed like masks of leather and silk were living flesh, feathered wings beat against the air; what had been vines painted onto creamy skin were now vibrant plants, twining through dark hair and creeping slowly over green tinged flesh. The fox woman grinned at him as she passed, the hem of her kimono delicately clasped in one dainty paw.

Koyama knew he should probably be worried, but he didn't feel impaired in any way… it was like he just felt _more_. Like he could reach a whole plane of experience that had always been there, hovering just out of reach. Had this always been here, lurking? Or was his mind creating something that wasn't there… laying a silvery film of surrealism over the scene? It felt too real to be a dream. But, he reminded himself, dreams usually do when you are still dreaming them.

He caught a flash of white off to the side and his thoughts scattered, bounding away exactly like the object of his pursuit. Koyama turned just in time to see the man from before hurry right past him. His hand shot out to grab the man's elbow before he could even think about what he was doing.

He smiled, "Hey, do you have time for a drink?"

The man huffed a little, a small frown of consternation furrowing his brows. "I really don't." He pulled out a silver watch and consulted it, and Koyama peered over at the face but none of the symbols made sense to him. He blinked and the man snapped it shut with a decisive click, ears quivering with nervous tension, "If you _must_ know, I am really quite late for a pressing engagement. I don't have time for anything, least of all a _drink_.

The man pulled away with a small, apologetic shrug and dashed off past the bar. He said he was leaving but he wasn't headed towards the door. Koyama looked back at Yoko who grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Against his better judgment - really what use had his judgment been tonight anyway - Koyama took off after him.

Away from the main room, the place was a maze of hallways, a door-lined labyrinth twisting off into the darkness. Koyama didn't even try to make sense of the architecture, he just moved fast enough to catch the white flash of a tail in the gloom, continually _just_ out of reach. The absurdity of the whole situation caught up with him and he couldn't stop the slightly hysterical laugh that bubbled up out of his throat but he didn't stop. It may be madness to chase after someone he'd just met through the dark corridors of an impossible building but he felt more engaged than he had in an impossibly long time. And rabbits were for chasing, after all.

The hallway looked like it might be coming to a dead-end, and he squinted in the dim light just managing to make out the man turning a key in the lock of an elaborate door. The door itself was massive, padded in vivid red leather and studded with gold. The man paused, silhouetted perfectly in a halo of blue light.

"Hey!" Koyama called out as he approached at a run, "I didn't even get your name."

The man smiled faintly, wrinkling his nose in a manner that shouldn't have been so cute, and shook his head gently, "You're an eager hound, but you can't follow me this way." He ducked Koyama's outstretched hand, stepped through the door and disappeared.

Koyama's fingers had just brushed the soft, soft fur of those ears but closed on empty air. He had expected to run right into him but the other man was very suddenly not there. Koyama's momentum carried him onward, however; he stumbled over the raised lintel of the doorway and put his foot down into empty air.

~~~

His heart flew into his throat as the ground slipped away beneath him and he plummeted, headfirst, through the floor. He scrambled for something to hold on to, but found himself surrounded by nothing, an unending, all-encompassing blackness that only seemed to grow and expand outwards. The air that rushed past him was inhumanly cruel, swallowing up his yells of terror and parting easily beneath him, doing nothing to break his fall as he tumbled down and down and down, falling and spinning, spinning and falling, faster, faster, faster until up was down and black was white and night was day and _was that the moon?_ He shouted until his voice was hoarse, and still he fell, body plunging down into the darkness below until he could no longer tell how long he'd been falling for, nor how fast he was traveling. Maybe he'd just keep falling forever, maybe he'd fall straight out of the other side of the world and find himself floating out in space, lost forever in the vacuum of nothing.

This was it, he knew, because logic and imagination are two terribly different things. The moment he stopped falling would be it for Koyama Keiichiro. No one could survive a fall like this, and there was nothing on this earth that could save him.

Koyama wasn't ready to die. He wasn't ready to abandon his friends and family, his mother, _oh God, his mother_ , his little nephews, and dammit, _this wasn't how he was supposed to go_. He was too young, too alive, filled with too much of everything to have it all taken away like that, and fate was cruel because that was the moment he saw it. One tiny, miniscule pinprick of light in the distance. The end of the tunnel.

His throat was thick with everything he'd never had the chance to say, mind heavy with things he would never get to do, and Koyama scrunched his eyes shut against it all, the images and the sounds and that round, white circle of light that was rushing up to meet him. For the last time in his life, Koyama prayed, begged that his family be taken care of and got to live long, happy lives, pictured the smiles on their faces, their eyes crinkled with laughter one more time before it finally-

He landed with a jolt that shook him right through to his bones, and for a brief moment it felt like every single one of them was breaking and re-setting, a mind-numbing, blistering pain that was gone almost as soon as it had arrived and left Koyama wondering if he had imagined it. He daren't open his eyes, not yet, continued to clutch onto the aches and bruises he could feel because he was convinced that the moment he did, the moment he consciously realized he was dead, he would be gone from this world forever.

The harder he tried to keep his eyes closed, though, the harder it became, an unbearable itch that twitched between his eyebrows and intensified more with every moment he tried to stave it off. He was reminded of those times as a child when he used to curl up beneath the covers in the dead of night, trying valiantly to block out the things that hid in the darkness. No matter how hard he tried, though, his eyes would always gradually drift open until he caught a shaft of moonlight or dancing shadow and remembered to squeeze his eyes shut again. He'd never seen anything suspicious in those moments, but that didn't stop the hairs on the back of his neck from standing on end or his heart from pounding that little bit harder at the mere prospect.

It was happening here, too. Koyama could feel his pulse thudding steadily beneath his skin, a little faster for every minute he didn't look, every minute he had to wonder, to imagine just what awaited him when he finally gave in.

He couldn't keep his eyes closed forever though, and for every moment he tried a little more light filtered through his eyelashes until he had no choice but to look.

And oh my, what a sight it was.

The first thing Koyama glimpsed was the shock of green beneath him, grass in every aspect of size and shape but softer and more alive than any grass he'd ever seen before. Gingerly he pushed himself up, brushing a few stray blades from his cheek, and blinked dumbly as he tried to take in everything around him.

Scattered across the ground were plants and flowers he'd never imagined in his wildest dreams, shaped like bells and hearts and things he couldn't even begin to describe with petals that looked like they'd been spun from the finest of silks. As he moved, the flower heads nearest to him shifted towards him, smoothly enough to have been caused by the breeze, had there been any. Koyama instinctively flinched away from them, but continued to push himself to his feet anyway - they were just flowers, after all. But the colors were nothing like flowers, so vibrant and vivid and larger-than-life, bright reds swirling into purple and pink and through every color of the rainbow until they were back to blue again, sparkling green leaves and sunflower-yellow stamen a sharp contrast to the deep blues and glistening black of the petals around them.

Further up ahead, great trees loomed in the distance with their branches floating and stretching up like hundreds of nature's arms reaching for the sky. And it was the sky that really took Koyama's breath away. A deep, rich purple swirled overhead, filled with glittering jewel-like stars which faded gently out as Koyama followed it down until a soft mauve shade kissed the ground. It was nothing like the kind of sky he was used to seeing, for the colors themselves seemed to swirl together, the stars shifting and dancing while the glow of light pulsed just below the horizon in a constant flow of motion. Logic told him the sky couldn't possibly be made of water, but if that was so, then his eyes were trying to deceive him.

Koyama tore his eyes away from the hypnotic sight and pushed himself to his feet carefully, not wanting to strain anything that could have been injured by the fall. There was still no pain, though, not even any stiffness, and if he wasn't so relieved he could still walk, he might have wondered how he'd not suffered at least a broken bone or two.

A few feet to his left there was a rough dirt path snaking between the foliage, which, seeing as he had no idea where he was, or even if he was alive or dead, would surely lead him somewhere. This place seemed too strange to be the kind of thing one experiences after death, too full of life with just an edge of something else, something that made Koyama feel a little more alert than usual. But on the other hand, it certainly couldn't be part of the real world, either, not somewhere like this.

Maybe he was dreaming. The memories of how he'd come to be here were faint, and the more he struggled to recall them, the further they hovered out of reach. If he concentrated, he could remember the flashing neon of the sign, the luminous color of the drink, the arched eyebrow of the man he'd followed down here- _the man!_ Surely if he could find him, with his rabbit ears and fluffy tail, he'd be able to help.

Koyama had almost made it to the path when his foot caught on something and he tumbled to the ground in a sprawl of limbs with a cry. Scrambling back up, he turned just in time to see a pair of legs - the ones that had tripped him - shimmer into view, then a torso, a pair of shoulders, and finally a head, propped up by a pair of arms folded behind it.

Koyama stared for a long moment, unable to keep the surprise from his face. Invisible men weren't something one sees every day, after all. A wide, slightly flat nose and curved jaw peeked out from beneath layers of thick, deep brown hair that curled gently around a pleasant-looking face - that seemed to serve as adequate cushioning, if the tiny, satisfied smile were any indication. Dark lashes fanned out against pale cheeks, and as Koyama continued to stare, one vivid emerald eye cracked open to peer up at him.

"Are you going to stand there all day?"

"I'm Ohkura," he continued when Koyama just blinked back at him, and rose to his feet with an enviable kind of feline grace, "and who might you be?"

"K-Koyama Keiichiro," Koyama replied hurriedly, bowing deeply, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, I was just looking for, uh... someone."

Ohkura's lazy smile stretched into a wide, toothy grin, "Well, you're certainly in the right place, Koyama Keiichiro. There are a lot of someones here, I'm sure you'll find one soon enough. But there are quite a few no-ones, too. Be careful who you stumble across next time; they might not take any trouble lying down."

Koyama's head was spinning already. "Where I'm from, people don't just... just turn up out of thin air like that."

"Really?" Ohkura raised both eyebrows, but there was no shock there, more a sleepy disinterest, "How dull. But your assumption is incorrect."

"What assumption?" Koyama frowned; he hadn't assumed anything, had he?

Ohkura stretched, squeezing his eyes shut for a long moment, and let out a sound that was almost a purr when he lowered his arms again, "I'm not a person. I'm a Cat." He leaned backwards as if to demonstrate, folding his arms across his chest and leaning, leaning, until he was spread horizontally, in thin air.

Koyama blinked. Maybe he was going crazy. "A... What? A cat?"

Ohkura looked hideously offended, wrinkling his nose and turning the end up as he stood up straight again, "No! A Cat. The Cheshire Cat, if you want to be precise."

"But... You just told me your name is Ohkura." Koyama said, beginning to wish he'd gone in the other direction instead, hadn't fallen over Ohkura's legs and wasn't stuck _here_ with him.

"Yes, that's correct. And?"

"Never mind." Koyama shook his head; clearly they were getting nowhere, and seeing as he _was_ stuck here with this man-cat-creature, he might as well try and get some answers. "I have a question."

"Another one?" Ohkura sighed and yawned widely, his feet flickering out of view for a moment, "I suppose that's not too surprising, really. You look like a person with a great many questions and very few answers. And the ones you _do_ have probably don't match up."

Koyama felt a headache forming between his eyebrows, "Will you quit doing that?"

"I assure you," Ohkura grinned, only an aimlessly-floating head now, "I always do as little as possible."

"Please!" Koyama begged, feeling more than a little lost, "The floating around and half-disappearing thing. It's starting to freak me out. But worse that that, you keep... trying to misdirect me! I just need some straight answers."

Ohkura took several steps towards him, and Koyama instinctively backed up a little, already beginning to feel slightly hysterical and eager to keep any space he could between him and the disappearing... thing that was now frowning. If it could be called frowning, indeed. When he wasn't grinning, Ohkura's facial muscles seemed to move as little as they possibly could, as if any emotion was simply too much effort to bother with.

"Well you're going to have to ask some straight questions," he said, letting Koyama hover awkwardly a few feet away, "Or else people are going to think you're fond of circular logic and then all you'll end up with are pie charts and Venn diagrams. Say, you don't happen to have any pie, do you?"

"No!" Koyama cried, sorely tempted to throw himself down on the ground in pure frustration. Ohkura seemed to share in his despair, at least, because he flopped down fluidly, folding his legs as he went.

"Pity. I'm especially fond of rhubarb."

Koyama drew in a long, deep breath - _count to ten, slowly, slowly_ \- and sighed it out. This was the only person he'd met so far, and despite being inhumanly frustrating, he didn't seem dangerous. Answers were what he needed, and he could deal with one irritating cat-man for long enough to get something out of him.

"I only need to know one thing," he said eventually, and although this was a complete lie - he needed to know _so_ much more than one thing - he despaired of getting even this one scrap of information out of whoever this was. "Where _am_ I?"

"Ah!" He grinned again, one hand disappearing behind his back, "Now that's an easy one. You are right... _here_." Ohkura produced a single sheet of paper from behind his back with what looked like an outline of a misshapen soy bean, or possibly a whole peanut casing scrawled on it. To one side, there was a big, red cross and the words _You are here_ in black marker just above it. There was a rustle down by his feet, and Koyama glanced down just in time to see a cluster of scarlet flowers shifting together to form a wonky x-shape.

"See?" Ohkura's eyes glinted with happy mischief, then, "Are you quite all right?"

Koyama wasn't used to feeling like the inside of his head was filled with lava instead of soft, grey mass, had never felt the urge to reach out and strangle another living thing before, but he was swiftly realizing that this place was full of surprises.

"Do I _look_ all right to you?"

"How would I know?" Ohkura shrugged nonchalantly, "Maybe where you come from people always turn a curious shade of purply-red when they're pleased."

By now, Koyama was employing every relaxation method he could manage. _Deep breaths, free your mind, embrace the calm._ He had drank a rather strange concoction, after all, and things that glowed usually weren't wonderfully good for the health. Don't take candy from strangers; don't take odd drinks from men that make the drink look normal. He was probably out cold in the club's men's room, sprawled in a stall having a weird hallucination. Maybe he hit his head, that and the alcohol would definitely explain everything better than having fallen down a hole into Crazy Land.

It couldn't possibly be anything else. A hallucination, a vision, some spectacularly vivid dream he was seeing in his head, and once he figured out how he could wake up - he pinched himself just in case - everything would be fine.

"Let me try this again," he said, feeling much calmer now, despite still being stuck here, "How is the place where both of us are currently residing generally referred to when people want to identify it in the broadest possible sense?"

While Koyama had been contemplating his situation, Ohkura had spread himself out on the grass again, and appeared to be idly thumb-wrestling with one of the plants.

"See, now that wasn't so difficult." He murmured, securing his victory before he stood once more, seemingly oblivious to Koyama's frown - because Koyama Keiichiro did not glare, oh no.

"You're in Wonderland, of course. Although I admit to being quite baffled as to how you ended up here by accident. And why you are so put out. You know, some people spend their whole _lives_ searching for this place."

"Well, I'm not one of them." Koyama said firmly, "And I don't want to be here. I just want to go home."

Ohkura gave a sly grin, "Not on purpose? You didn't follow someone here?"

"No!" Koyama spluttered, "Of course not! Why would you ask that?!" He hadn't _followed_ that man here, not really, he'd just fallen and hit his head and sort of ended up here.

"Oh... no reason. Just something a little bunny told me." Ohkura chuckled softly, "Birdie, I meant birdie of course. I get those confused all the time. Although they are both very tasty..."

Koyama let out an exasperated sigh, "I can see you've exhausted your capacity to be helpful. I suppose I'll just have to find someone else to help me."

Tired of dealing with how difficult Ohkura was (he could definitely understand why he called himself a cat), Koyama turned on his heel and set off up the path towards the forest, eager to get on and get out.

"If you go that way all you'll get is tea and confusion!" Ohkura called as he left, then continued to himself, "Or was it Confucian... hmmm, well, tea, at any rate."

Koyama felt the eyes burning a hole between his shoulder blades, but resisted the urge to turn around. Ohkura was useless.

Had Koyama not been so stubborn, he would have seen Ohkura's body slowly fade out of sight amongst the flowers, until all that was left was a pair of glowing eyes and a wide, sleepy smile.

~~~

Koyama wasn't a huge fan of the dark, and inside the forest it was very dark indeed. The branches and leaves were packed so tightly together overhead that barely a shaft of light could peek through to illuminate the path - which was getting smaller and more overgrown with every step he took.

Upon further consideration, he realized that it wasn't so much the dark that he didn't like, but the things that could hide in the dark that bothered him the most, and who knew what kind of weird and wonderful - and hideous - creatures this new, unknown kind of dark held. He consciously picked up his pace a little, and despite his urge to look about him and see just what sort of things his imagination could conjure up when it was really trying, he tried his best to keep his eyes ahead and down, just in case there was something out there that he could anger. He didn't like nightmares much, either.

Thankfully, he didn't have to walk for too much longer before the path widened again into a clearing up ahead. The closer he got the more it sounded like he was in luck because that was definitely voices he could hear, and even the clinking of china! Finally, surely they would be able to help.

But once the inhabitants of the clearing came into view, Koyama's elation shriveled and sank into the pit of his stomach.

Filling the entire space between the trees was a huge dining table covered with the largest tablecloth he had ever seen and piled high with every type of cutlery and crockery imaginable. There were plates and bowls and mugs of all shapes and sizes, shining silver forks and dark, unpolished brass, wooden platters and metal trays. And cups and saucers and spoons and right at the head of the table, a huge teapot surrounded by an array of test tubes and tall supports and gently bubbling liquids that looked horribly out of place despite the chaos around them.

It wasn't the state of disarray that dashed Koyama's hope though - he was never one to be put off by such immaterial things - but the small gathering of people around the far corner of the table that made his heart plummet into his shoes.

Curled up on one chair was someone with their head pillowed on their arms, face covered by waves of blonde hair, and next to them was a tall, tall man with an angular face and a shock of platinum hair wearing a powder-blue suit and a bright, sunny smile. When he laughed, his eyes crinkled and the long, matching-blonde rabbit ears sprouting from the top of his head twitched, and Koyama couldn't stop his own lips curving in reply.

However, it was the table's final occupant that worried him the most. Almost hidden behind his chemistry set (which seemed to be slowly dripping its products into the teapot), he had wild brown hair that seemed to stay put solely because of the large green top hat and goggles pulled snugly onto his head and wild eyes that darted back and forth between the different parts of his concoction as he gestured animatedly, hands (and possibly feet, too, were the tablecloth a few inches shorter) waving around in the air. His voice, when he spoke, was slightly nasal and high-pitched, and Koyama felt it grate along his nerves as much as he was endeared to it. An odd combination, certainly, but surprisingly apt all the same.

He was about to turn back the way he'd come, because there was no way these people were any more normal than Ohkura had been - for all he knew, there was a fourth, invisible member at the table - but the tall one's eyes landed on him and lit up.

"Oh! Look, look! Company!"

The man in the hat's head whipped around and his face broke into a broad grin, while the small blonde just curled into a tighter ball and snored softly. Koyama thought he'd get on well with Ohkura.

"A visitor!" The lively man exclaimed, "How wonderful! Come, come, sit, have a cup of tea!"

Koyama approached them slowly, like one might a wild animal - or three.

"I'm not really sure, I mean, I'm kind of in a hurry-"

"Nonsense!" The other man burst, hands flailing wildly around his ears, "Where there is tea, you must drink!"

"Well..." Koyama said, eyeing the bubbling tubes and teapot warily, "I-I suppose one cup would be okay..." He could always surreptitiously tip it away if it turned out to be some strange kind of creation that they'd decided to name after a common beverage. After all, maybe they'd be able to help. Maybe.

"Excellent!" The other man got to his feet and swept an arm across one corner of the table to clear it, sending piles of plates and cups and empty test tubes crashing to the floor, "Have a seat!"

Going around to the other side of the table, Koyama went to sit down, but to his surprise there was nothing in the vicinity that even vaguely resembled something he'd be able to sit on. Standing awkwardly between the two brightly smiling faces, Koyama accepted the teacup thrust at him with a nod and waited while the three other cups were refilled too. More tea sloshed out onto the table than made it into the actual cups, but this wasn't his table nor his clean-up duty, so he politely kept his mouth shut.

"Why are you still standing around?" The man in the hat asked, before the one in blue spoke up.

"Do you need a hat? Or are you more partial to coats, maybe?"

"I... I'm sorry?"

"Sit, sit!"

"... Okay..." Koyama looked about, hoping a chair would have suddenly materialized from thin air, and when it hadn't, wondered what kind of a dream this was if he couldn't even convince his own brain to provide him with a seat. Both men were gesturing to him to sit down, and when eventually bent his knees a little to emulate being seated, the one in blue winked at him. Koyama got the distinct impression he was being teased, but when the one in the hat nodded and turned away, he didn't feel so sure.

The appearance of tea in his cup seemed to rouse their third companion from his slumber, and when he blinked up at them sleepily and rubbed at his eyes, Koyama could see that there were whiskers growing from the rosy apples of his cheeks, and tiny brown ears peeked out from beneath his hair.

"Hello," he said softly, and resisted the urge to reach out and pet the young man's hair. He seemed so out of place here with two such strong... _characters_ , something so small and innocent and, if not for the mouse-like features, normal.

"Hello," he replied, "Who are you?"

"I'm Koyama Keiichiro," Koyama smiled, "And you?"

"I'm Ya- Ya-" The boy's mouth stretched in a yawn as he finished introducing himself, "-asu."

"Hey look, the Dormouse actually woke up!" The man with the giant ears grinned, "You must be something special, Koyama Keiichiro. Iriguchi, deguchi, I'm Taguchi!"

Koyama swallowed, and smiled politely. Clearly Wonderland humor was different from what he was used to, and he was glad when he was saved from having to try and reply when the last member of their party burst out laughing and clapped Taguchi on the back. His amusement ended almost as soon as it had begun, though, all traces of humor dropping from his face as he turned back to Koyama, then smiled widely. The effect was unnerving, to say the least, and Koyama wrapped his hands around his teacup as if it were some kind of protective barrier.

"Don't listen to him, he's completely mad. I'm Aiba, by the way, but they all call me Hatter. Do you like hats? I had a lovely hat once, but in the end it had to leave me behind and go on a head."

Koyama was sure he'd never be able to remember all these names. Really, wasn't one enough for these people?

"Why do you all have so many names? Yasu and Dormouse, Aiba and Hatter, Ohkura and Cheshire Cat... I don't understand! You can't possibly be both!"

"Of course we are both," Aiba told him matter-of-factly, "Our names are who we are. We are our names. A name is often the only thing one can rely upon, you know, because a rose by any other name doth not smell as sweet."

Koyama opened his mouth to point out that that wasn't _quite_ how it went, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a pair of green eyes in his peripheral vision. The shock of it ruined his balance and he hit the ground for the third time since he'd arrived, teacup flying out of his hands and spilling out over the grass.

At least he wouldn't have to try and drink it now.

" _You_ again!" He grumbled once he'd gotten back up, opting to stand in case Ohkura had any other unpleasant tricks up his sleeve, "What do you want?"

Ohkura grinned, and Yasu squeaked and disappeared beneath the table as he slowly faded into view, "I never pass up an opportunity for cake!"

"What sort of cat likes _cake_?"

"Oh, he's not a cat," Aiba intervened, "He's a Cat."

"How the hell is a cat different to a 'Cat'?!"

"Hey, have you heard the one about the Eskimos?" Reading the atmosphere, Koyama was beginning to learn, was _not_ one of Taguchi's strong points.

"A cat is _very_ different to a Cat." Ohkura told him, and Aiba nodded in agreement whilst Taguchi continued to tell his joke around mouthfuls of cake.

"Two Eskimos in a kayak were feeling a bit chilly, so they started a fire, see, to warm up."

"Just like a door and a mouse are both very different to a Dormouse, but I don't hear you questioning that! Have you ever seen a mouse shaped like a door, Koyama Keiichiro?"

"But of course the kayak sank. Which just proves the old adage that you can't have your kayak and heat it too."

"Because let me tell you, it's not a pretty sight. That reminds me of the time I had that pet raven, he was rather woody too-"

"Stop, please!" Koyama was one word away from clapping his hands over his ears, head spinning from all the different voices. He could feel a headache beginning to pulse behind his eyes, and covered them with his fingers. "Just- just. Just, never mind." Obviously he was going to have to stick to clear, simple questions with these people... or whatever they were.

By the time he drew his hands away from his face, they'd gone back to sipping their drinks quietly, and Ohkura kept peeking underneath the table and trying to tempt Yasu back out with pieces of cake. Aiba was adding pinches of colored powder and leaves to his concoction at different points in its cycle, and was about to drop a bundle of bright green nettles into a beaker filled with hot pink liquid when it flared yellow and started smoking.

"Um..." Koyama ventured, "What are you making?"

Aiba looked at him like he'd just asked if the grass was green (although here, one could never be sure), "Why, tea of course!" He motioned towards the pot.

"He hasn't quite managed to get it right yet, though," Ohkura added, and Aiba nodded sadly whilst Taguchi offered his condolences.

"Chin up! You know what they say, if at first you don't make tea, chai, chai again!"

Ohkura groaned and nudged at Taguchi with as much effort as he seemed able but Aiba just grinned beatifically and redoubled his attempts.

Unfortunately, there was a crack and a bang, and the beaker Aiba had been leaning over bubbled over and exploded. Koyama leapt back from the table, but no one else had even flinched at the commotion. Even Aiba himself seemed ignorant of his singed hair and the ash on his cheeks, and started picking through a pile of twigs.

"Your goggles..." Koyama started, peering at the things perched on the brim of Aiba's top hat and wondered why the Hatter refused to wear them despite his experiments clearly being rather dangerous.

"Oh yes!" Aiba exclaimed happily, "Goggles are essential. All of the books say so. You can't perform proper scientific experiments without protective eye-wear."

Koyama frowned, "Yes, but... aren't you supposed to wear them over your eyes?"

Aiba scoffed in disbelief and tugged them down, settling them over his eyes. The lenses appear to be made of the bottoms of bottles, round pieces of thick, green glass obscuring most of the Hatter's face entirely from view.

"Now do you see how ridiculous your notions are? I couldn't possibly see anything through these!" He lowered them further and peered over the top, "And seeing is a very important part of monitoring my experiments. Obviously. Oh! Unless I devised a course of inquiry about not-seeing... Blind watermelon carving - does it require more or less creativity than dexterity?"

Aiba hummed thoughtfully and Koyama figured now was as good a time as any to escape. He needed to hurry and find out the best path home, and one explosion was quite enough for one day, thank you.

"I should probably be going..." He started, slowly backing away from the table and its occupants, "Thank you for the tea, and the cake, it was, uh. It was very kind. But I should go, now..."

"Of course, of course!" Aiba stared into one of the deep blue, simmering liquids as he spoke, "You have much to do, so many things to accomplish! Well, one thing, really, but so much before you get there, it is definitely time to make like tea and leave!"

Koyama looked between them once more before nodding and turning to leave, feeling even more baffled than he had when he'd arrived.

"Isn't it make like a _tree_ and leave?" Koyama heard Taguchi intervene, and Ohkura hummed in agreement.

"That's ridiculous!" Aiba scoffed, their voices dying out as he slipped into the woods again and rejoined the path, "Everyone knows if you want to have tea you have to beat around the bush..."

"Be careful!" Taguchi called after him just before they disappeared out of sight, "Don't talk to strange men! You don't want to get mugged!"

-  
The forest gradually thinned and gave way to more cultivated looking land. Not farms or houses but gently rolling hills and smaller trees and more civilized greenery. Koyama was more than a little irritated. The tea party had been diverting to say the least but he hadn't been able to get any kind of useful answers at all.

He seemed to be stuck in some kind of dream quest, weren't characters in those stories supposed to be helpful? All he'd gotten from that lot was some strange tea and a headache. Well, maybe if this was a dream quest, _his_ dream quest, he couldn't really be going the wrong way. Right?

After a delightfully quiet half an hour or so of rambling he paused at the top of a small rise and found himself looking down at the most amazing garden he had ever seen. It was immense, sprawling across the valley as far as he could see. It was a riot of color, flowers and trees and fantastical topiaries cut into geometric shapes and animals he had never seen before. But they were far from the most amazing part of the view.

The whole panorama was dominated by an enormous, elaborate hedge labyrinth. He had seen pictures of topiary mazes in gardens of French and English royalty but none of them came close to this. The lush greenery twisted and twined around itself in dizzying patterns broken only by small clearings dotted with fountains and statuary. Even from his vantage point on the hill, he couldn't make his eyes follow any path for very long, after a few turns his vision started swimming and he had to look away, losing the thread.

Koyama made his way down the hill, stopping at the edge of the labyrinth. The wall in front of him stretched off in both directions, with no openings that he could see. He shrugged and picked a direction, intending to walk until he reached a corner. He was pretty sure he didn't want to venture into the maze without breadcrumbs or string, something to help him get out again.

He went left - one direction was as good as any other and he liked left. After a few minutes of walking he saw a white door set into the hedges. He tried the knob just out of curiosity, figuring he could just poke his head in and look around, but the door was locked fast. It didn’t even seem to have a keyhole he could peer through. Koyama shrugged and continued on.

There were more white doors, all evenly spaced along the otherwise featureless wall. He tried a few more at random but they were all shut as surely as the first. He could see what seemed to be a few people in the distance, he briefly considered trying to avoid them but that would mean retracing his steps back and maybe, not likely but there was a chance, they could give him some direction.

The men were standing in front of two of the white doors, about fifteen feet or so apart. They were both shorter than Koyama, one blond and one dark-haired. The spiky haired blond was dressed entirely in white save a single scarlet heart painted on his back, the other man was in an elaborate tunic over tights that looked like something out of a medieval painting. His clothes also had a heart motif to them, small red hearts worked into the trim around the collar and edges of the tunic. His clothes looked familiar but Koyama couldn't quite place them. He turned a bit to talk to his companion, presenting his profile and it struck Koyama suddenly. He looked just like one of the people on playing cards.

Both men had buckets of bright red paint and seemed to be engaged in painting red patterns on the white doors. He drew close enough that he could hear the dark haired man singing, the tune sounded eerily familiar but Koyama couldn't quite place it.

"I see a white door and I have to paint it red. Because the Queen of Hearts is batty in the head."

The blond's brush moved in careful strokes as he hummed a dreamy counterpoint. The dark haired man seemed to be slapping broad swathes of red over his door in contrast with his friend's delicate, curling design.

"Is the Queen of Hearts your ruling monarch?" Koyama asked in lieu of a greeting. "Should you be talking about the queen like that?"

Both men turned to him with a smile, a sort of soft, unfocused one from the blond and a quick clever grin from the brunette. It was the kind of smile that spelled potential trouble but Koyama held his tongue.

The brunette raised an eyebrow, "What? I'm a knave, I'm supposed to be cheeky. Besides which, every other sentence out of the queen's mouth is 'off with their' heads anyway. I doubt I can get into _more_ trouble."

Koyama was of the opinion that the man seemed like a champion troublemaker but he kept that to himself. "Does the queen really go chopping peoples' heads off on a regular basis?" Maybe he should steer clear of this whole area.

The knave shrugged, "Eh. Not as often as you might think. The king usually manages to distract him. Which is good because the queen would be sad without people to order around."

The blond snored softly in agreement, he seemed to have fallen asleep on his feet. The knave rolled his eyes and nudged the other man with his shoulder. The blond blinked his eyes open and smiled sweetly, "Hi, Nino."

Nino smiled again, a much softer expression this time. "Hi, Oh-chan." He turned back to Koyama, "I'm Nino, the Knave of Hearts. Ohno here is the Ace." He gestured to the blond who smiled dreamily. "We work for the King and Queen of Hearts. Well, technically the Ace trumps and that makes Oh-chan the Leader but he's pretty useless." His fond tone belied the harshness of his words. "The queen adores him though so he could probably demand anything he wanted. But he never does."

The Ace reached over to run a graceful hand through Nino's hair, "I adore Nino."

Nino nodded, like this was the right and expected order of the universe. "So you'd think that would make me like the secret power behind the throne, right?"

Koyama wasn't sure what to say so he settled for a vague noise of agreement. Nino continued blithely on.

"But no. The queen may be crazy, but he's crazy like a fox."

His face must have registered his complete and utter confusion because Nino heaved a short sigh and elaborated. He wound his fingers through Ohno's as he talked in an almost unconscious gesture. "Means he is also _clever_. He knows a hawk from a handsaw. 'Course he wouldn't know what to _do_ with either of them, but there you have it. Hey!" Nino looked back at Koyama, his gaze suddenly keen and mischievous, "Do you want us to do that bit where one of us always tells the truth and one of us always lies?"

Koyama groaned inwardly. He knew the bit Nino was talking about, he vaguely remembered learning about it a logic class once upon a time. He had never managed to wrap his head around the solution. "Not particularly, no."

Nino nodded, "Good. Me either. To tell you the honest truth I sometimes forget which door the tiger is behind and Oh-chan can never remember if he's supposed to lie or not."

Ohno, who had gone back to painting swirls, hummed his agreement.

"I'd much rather do a card trick." Nino snapped his fingers and a deck of playing cards materialized in his hands. He shuffled them quickly, the cards flying in his hands in impressive patterns too complicated for Koyama's eyes to follow. Nino's clever hands fanned out the cards in a perfect spread, offering them to Koyama. "Pick a card, any card."

Just as Koyama reached for one, the other man pulled them back toward his chest. "Are you surprised that a nice boy like me is turning tricks?" He rambled on, before Koyama could answer, "Of course they do say that tricks are for kids. And you are clearly no longer a child." He narrowed his eyes, giving Koyama a once-over, "Well, physically anyway. That's ok, Oh-chan is always happy to let me trick him." His flash fire grin was back in full-force, "We're already cards, you can suit yourself."

Before Koyama could properly process Nino's rapid-fire commentary, Ohno tugged Nino's sleeve and mumbling something about a game, and maybe they should be going. Nino swore under his breath, muttering about insane monarchs and their pathetic excuses for lawn sports.

He turned and flung the door behind him open with a flourish, smiling at Koyama with a glint in his dark eyes, "Would you like to meet the queen?"

Koyama peered through the door into the maze and hummed noncommittally, trying to decide how best to avoid a homicidal ruler when someone stalked around a shrubbery corner and up to the door.

It was the boy from the club, the white rabbit. His waistcoat was made from now crimson and gold, heart patterned brocade, but otherwise he looked exactly the same. Well, maybe slightly more irritated.

His only acknowledgment of Koyama was a regally arched brow and a sniff. He paused just long enough to click his silver pocket watch angrily shut and snap at all three of them. "You're terribly late. You _know_ how the queen feels about punctuality."

Nino rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Don't get your ears in a knot, bunny boy. We were just on our way."

The boy narrowed his eyes at Nino and they two of them stood there, seemingly having a bit of a glare-off. After a few moments, the boy tsked and turned on his heel, calling back over his shoulder, "I don't have time for this, I'll expect you there shortly.

Koyama watched the boy tear off, managing to move incredibly quickly without ever breaking his neat, well-mannered stride. He turned to Nino who was sticking his tongue out at the boy's retreating back, "I've seen him before, does he have a name?"

Nino whistled, "You've seen him outside of court? I'm impressed, he's usually too busy being official to get out much."

Koyama bit his lip and blushed a little, "I kind of… followed him here."

The knave laughed, a cheerful sound, "He's annoying as hell, but Kame has always been a bit of a heart-breaker. Get it? _Heart_ breaker?" Koyama chuckled a bit nervously and Nino huffed.

"That's his name, Kame, he's the White Rabbit and the queen's official herald. He has a stick up his ass about a league long, but he's ok. He and the queen bond over appointment books. And speaking of appointments, we have one to keep. Let's go slowpoke."

"His name is Kame?" Koyama asked incredulously. "And he's a rabbit… that makes him both the tortoise _and_ the hare." He couldn't stop the more than slight hysterical giggle that bubbled its way out of his throat.

Nino looked at him like he might be insane a moment, (and maybe he was, the place might finally be starting to get to him. If crazy people think you're crazy does that make you more or less crazy than them?), before he jabbed Koyama in the side and grabbed his wrist, dragging him off into the maze with Ohno trailing happily behind them, humming a jaunty little tune.

Koyama tried to pay attention to where they were going as they made their way through the labyrinth but they were turning corners, doubling back, slipping through hidden doorways, and crossing elegant courtyards with remarkable celerity. His mind swam as he failed to keep up with an ever-growing list of twists and turns. He despaired of ever finding his way back out. The queen was going to have his head chopped off and he wouldn't even know which way to run. At least he would get to meet royalty before he died. Well, insane dream world royalty. That must count for something, right? Maybe she'll just throw me in the stocks and I'll be stuck in this dream forever.

Nino halted abruptly causing Koyama to stumble and derailing his increasingly morbid train of thought. "We're here."

They were indeed. The passage widened and opening onto an enormous lawn. Rows of elaborately shaped hedges stretched before them. Nino led the way as Koyama gaped. One of the hedges, an immense and elegant bird of some sort, depicted in mid-flight, turned and bobbed its head at Koyama as they passed.

"Showoff." Nino muttered.

As they approached the center of the courtyard Koyama could see a raised dais with an elaborate canopy. They came upon a group of people, the crowd parted revealing a broad walkway carpeted in rich red velvet, lined with knights in smooth white armor etched with bright hearts.

He followed Nino and Ohno down the aisle so caught up in the sights, the people clothed in rich and colorful fabrics like some kind of medieval tapestry come to life, the armored knights, was that Kame up ahead? He caught the rabbit's eye and Kame scrunched up his nose in a small frown of disapproval. He didn't even notice they had stopped until a silky voice sliced through the air in the most forcefully polite tone Koyama had ever heard.

"Oh by all means, pay your obeisance at your own convenience. Pay us no mind."

He saw Kame slap his head down into his hand with a sigh, he looked down to see Ohno and Nino kneeling gracefully at the foot of the thrones. Crap. Better kneel first, then apologize.

Koyama dropped to his knees and looked up. Two elegant gold thrones were arranged on the platform flanked by sumptuous banners strewn with hearts and curling designs. A handsome man with short brown hair and a friendly smile sat on the left throne. His head was adorned with a simple gold crown and he was clothed in a suit of black crossed with a crimson sash. To his left sat one of the loveliest people Koyama had ever seen. The man was picturesque; his shoulder length hair shone like black silk, his red doublet set off the creaminess of his pale skin perfectly, a silver crown graced his head, and he held a delicate scepter casually in one elegant hand. There was no doubt whatsoever in Koyama's mind that this person was the Queen of Hearts.

The Queen raised one perfect brow, "And who is this?"

Nino answered, something Koyama was very grateful for as he really didn't want to further offend someone who was known for summarily ordering beheadings at the drop of a hat. "He's- actually, I don't know what his name is. We picked him up on the north side of the maze. He's a visitor, he knows Kame."

The queen took a moment to slant an inquisitive look at Kame who blushed and looked down. He turned back to regard Koyama with amusement, "It is painfully obvious that he is not a native.” the queen continued archly.

"My name is Koyama, your majesty. I'm sorry if I offended you. I'm not really used to this sort of thing." The king winked at him and patted the queen's hand.

"You are late and completely ignorant of protocols but I'll let it pass this time." The queen smiled and it was brilliant, bright and flawless like the edge of a diamond. Koyama blinked involuntarily. "Now that you are here we can play!"

He clapped his hands and the crowd dispersed, some members of the court rushing off to fetch equipment as the king and queen gracefully rose to their feet and descended the dais. Well the queen rose gracefully anyway. The king kind of tripped over his own boot and narrowly missed plunging headfirst down the steps.

The queen frowned sternly, "Honestly, Sho, don't think that falling and breaking your face and possibly your foot will get you out of playing the game."

"Eeerg." Was the king's eloquent reply.

The queen sailed off and called back over his shoulder, "Come along everyone. You too, Koyama."

Koyama cast a panicked look at the king, "But, your majesty, I have no idea what we're playing, if I'm not any good will he have me… executed?"

The king smiled reassuringly and clapped a strong hand on Koyama's shoulder. "Oh, that's ok. He's really the only one who knows all of the rules and you can't _possibly_ be worse than me. Call me Sho."

 

He was about to follow the king when he caught sight of a familiar top hat. Aiba turned from where he was chatting with Nino and gave him a cheerful wave. "Aiba, what are you doing here?"

Aiba's madcap grin gleamed, "Me and these guys go way back. And you know me, I never could resist a good game of whatever the hell it is we're playing this week."

The queen's sharp rebuke cut through the crowd, "I heard that, Masaki! You know very well that mannequin golf is the official game of the kingdom!"

The Hatter ambled over to the queen and smiled sunnily, "Whatever you say, MatsuJun."

"How many times have I told you to address me as 'your majesty' or at the very least 'Queen of Everything'?"

"Clearly not enough." Nino added with a grin.

It was at this point that Koyama really felt there was a glaring question they were ignoring. "Um, mannequin golf?"

Ohno ambled past and smiled sweetly at him, "It's easy, I'll show you how."

Koyama's fervent hopes that the game was something less obvious than it sounded were dashed when he spied the servants setting up a row of what seemed to be shop window mannequins with golf clubs glued to their hands. The crowd was gathered around the edges of a flat green with a hole at the far end marked by a red pennant.

He leaned over and whispered in Aiba's ear, "So… do the mannequins do the putting?"

"No, silly. The mannequins are the putters. Clearly." The Hatter's eyes lit up and he walked off, obviously no longer speaking to Koyama, "Hey, we used your standard five and eight-ninths putters last time, do you think the velocity of the ball will be affected if we replace them with a less standard tool? Oh what if we used field hockey sticks instead…"

"Right… clearly." Koyama replied faintly.

The queen was waiting rather impatiently as they gathered at a golden line drawn in the emerald grass. "Nino, you go first!"

Nino heaved a long-suffering sigh and walked over to the row of mannequins, grabbing one and struggling to get a good grip on it. It didn't look anything like easy. The thing was taller than Nino and he had to twist his torso awkwardly to arrange it so that the putter was in the correct position. The knave eventually got it into a somewhat less than precarious position and gave the ball a firm whack. It passed the flag and rolled nearly to the line of hedges several feet past the flag. "Crap. Well, can't be worse than Sho.", he concluded with a shrug.

Kame marked the stroke carefully on a tablet and the queen eyed the rest of them. "You're next, Sho."

The king grimaced and wrestled his mannequin into position. Well sort of. He missed the ball entirely the first time, dropped the mannequin and missed the ball the second time, and managed to get his foot caught between the dummy's legs the third time and fall over although he did hit the ball. It rolled a stately foot and a half forward.

"Hey, I hit it! And it moved! I'm improving" Sho caroled as he took his place on the sidelines.

"I'll go next", Ohno stepped up to the line and the crowd hushed. The queen smiled as the Ace hefted his putter into position and took his stance, all the while chatting to Nino about his ideas for further door painting designs. He hit the ball and it sailed down the green landing perfectly in the hole with a hollow clunk.

"He makes it look so easy,” Aiba lamented.

"Ah, hole in one!" Ohno concluded.

"How would you know? You weren't even _looking_!" Nino gripped good-naturedly.

"It was though," the Ace replied with a beatific smile as Nino huffed.

"Don't worry, Koyama." Sho leaned over, "We stopped counting his score ages ago, it's hideously unfair. Oh-chan is freakishly good at everything."

Ohno caught Koyama's eye, his sleepy grin transformed momentarily into a sly smile as he winked merrily.

Aiba's turn was unremarkable, save the Hatter's steady stream of commentary about velocities, friction coefficients, what impact smoothing the surface of the ball might have, and whether the game would be more or less difficult if they filled everyone's pants with banana custard.

The queen just rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the line, smiling regally at Koyama. "I will graciously take the next turn so you can witness a professional in action." He may have been arrogant but it wasn't entirely without cause. After just a moment of awkward grappling, the queen hit the ball solidly and it rolled over the grass, aimed right for the center of the target.

The queen and the rest of the crowd was watching the ball, Koyama was the only one who looked up at the last moment and subsequently was the only one who witnessed a flash as a gray and green-striped tail materialized out of thin air and nudged the ball just left of the hole at the last moment before disappearing in a tiny wisp of smoke.

Koyama thought he heard the ghost of a chuckle next to his ear as the queen frowned prettily at the mannequin.

"Off with its head!" the queen declared imperiously.

"Hmmm, do you think that will make the mannequins a more optimal playing tool?" Aiba asked as he and the queen moved off to the side.

Koyama gulped nervously but stepped up and wrestled his mannequin into some semblance of a decent position with a minimum of fuss. He took a deep breath and tapped the ball firmly. It hit the flagpole with a pleasant tap and dropped into the cup. Koyama blinked in surprise as the spectators cheered albeit not very loudly and with one eye on the queen trying to gauge his reaction.

The queen clapped politely and smiled, "A good showing from a lucky beginner. Very well, Koyama, I shall grant you a boon." The crowd oooh'd and ahhh'd at the queen's generosity. "What would you like? A brand new flugelhorn? A fortnight vacation to the outer reaches of the Skeleton Keys? A position in my court, perhaps?"

Koyama's breath caught for a moment. This was why the Cheshire Cat had helped him, it was a perfect chance to get some answers. "Actually, your majesty, all I really want to know is what I have to do to go back to my world. It's very nice here, I've had a lovely time but I need to go home."

The queen, his court, and the Hatter shared an eloquent look before he turned back to face Koyama with a small smile. "I can be of some assistance in that matter. There is an ancient legend of a terrible creature, I don't know the entirety of the tale but I can tell you who does. You need to seek out The Caterpillar."

He tried to keep the disbelief out of his voice, "A… caterpillar?"

"That's correct."

It really wouldn't do to tell the queen exactly how likely he thought being able to find and subsequently solicit information from a particular caterpillar would be. Clearly, he was just going to have to figure something out on his own.

"It's been lovely having you visit, Koyama," the queen continued, "but you will probably want to be on your way. Nino show you to the exit."

Koyama bowed, to the queen's delight and the king waved him farewell, "Come back soon! Next week we're building a boat out of melba toast!" Nino, Ohno, and Aiba escorted him to the far side of the green. He looked over at Nino and murmured conspiratorially, "One question."

"Yeah?"

"I thought queens were supposed to be ladies. Why is this one a man?"

The Hatter giggled breathily, and leaning in and whispering in a way that he probably thought was sneaky, "Oh, he's not really that kind of queen."

"Masaki!" the queen's outraged shriek was immediate, "I heard that!"

Aiba failed to look contrite. "Oops!"

Before Koyama could comment, Nino patted his arm. "Ok, you remember the way we came in?"

His eyes snapped wide as he recalled the very confusing tangle of turns they took to reach this part of the maze. He was still shaking his head vehemently no as Nino continued, "Well you need to go back to the thirteenth left and make a u-turn so you go down the passage to the opposite side of the Jubjub bird statue." He paused just long enough to see the panic rising in Koyama's eyes and grinned. "I'm just kidding, it's right out that door."

Koyama's entire frame sagged with relief as he stepped over to yet another white door, this one covered with a painting of twining red roses. The other three waved him goodbye as he opened the door and stepped out to find himself at the edge of another shady wood.

"Remember," Nino called after him, "look for the mushrooms!"

He had only taken a few steps into the forest when a vivid pink flower near his foot snapped itself off and levitated in front of him.

"Is that you, Ohkura? Or are there other creatures around here that are routinely immaterial?"

The Cat shimmered into view all at once rather than starting from the top. Koyama had been amusing himself by keeping count of the ways he appeared and disappeared and noting how many of them could be duplicated with graphics programs.

However, his mode of appearance was not the only difference this time. "Hey!" Koyama exclaimed with delight, "You have ears and a tail!"

He did indeed. Ohkura looked much like he had at the Tea Party save the fluffy gray tail curled around his legs and the elegant ears curving out of his brown hair. Both ears and tail were striped vividly in a green that matched the Cat's luminous eyes.

The Cat toyed with the flower and smiled coyly, swishing his tail hypnotically back and forth. "Mmmmhmm… do you like them?"

Koyama couldn't help himself, he had to reach out and scratch Ohkura gently behind the ears. The Cat purred loudly and smirked softly as Koyama responded in a small voice, "Maybe. Although you still don't look like much of a cat to me."

Ohkura leaned into Koyama's hand and replied contemplatively, "Well, no. I suppose I don't. Not by your notions anyway. But I am far superior to most cats in every respect." The Cat demonstrated one of his unique features by letting his feet drift up so that he was lying stretched out in mid-air, still at the perfect height for Koyama to pet him. "Besides which, you should be starting to understand that around here very little is exactly what it seems to be. The same is true where you come from", he continued conversationally, "but people are much more stubborn about acknowledging it. Here we are adept at seeing the true nature of things."

The Cat fixed his shimmering eyes on Koyama's in a meaningful stare, as if he was trying to drive a very important message home. "You still have a long way to go but you are getting better. One must give credit where credit is due. Of course, it might be credit you can ill afford. It all depends on the interest, you know." Ohkura lips quirked up in a wicked smirk that gave Koyama a sudden chill. "And believe me, one might take a great deal of interest in you."

He tried to push away his sudden pang of anxiety by shoving roughly at Ohkura's head. "Eat and nap and _annoy_ people. Is that all you're good for?"

"Um, hello… cat?"

Koyama huffed in irritation and Ohkura swiped a damp tongue across his palm and clutched his sides with laughter at Koyama's squeal of surprise. He faded more with each guffaw until the only sign that he had been there was the faint echo of his laughter in the woodland glade.

~~~

"Look for mushrooms? What kind of directions are those?!" Koyama groused to himself as he pushed through the lush vegetation. This part of the forest could almost be mistaken for the ones he dredged up from his hazy memories of summer camping trips. The towering pines were the same as was the soft carpet of slender needles that shifted and crunched under his feet. If he ignored the fact that the chorus of what he assumed to be birdsong, which was utterly unlike any wildlife he had ever heard - who on earth had heard of birds that whistled complete tunes in harmony with each other?! - and the colors, so much brighter than any of those far away forests in his mind, then it was just like the ones he remembered.

The forest floor was littered with vegetation. So far he had seen magenta ferns, a kind of grayish moss that hummed when he got too close, and flowers of every shape and hue. It was incredible but completely devoid of mushrooms. "They're probably having a good laugh at my expense right now. I'll bet it's just like the time when I started my first internship and they sent me out to get plaid paint. I can't believe I fell for it again. 'Just look for the mushrooms!' Hah. I wonder what it says about me that even the people I've dreamt up give me a hard time?" Koyama heaved a blustery sigh but trudged on, dutifully sweeping his gaze along the ground.

"Serves me right for asking directions from a mad man. Although, to be fair, they seem to be the majority here- oof!"

He blinked up at the slightly spongy obstruction before taking a few steps back. Koyama tilted his head back a little further to see… a very large, pale blue mushroom. It was perfectly shaped, its gently fluted stem topped with a smooth curved cap liberally strewn with pink and yellow spots. "I see."

"Two very serviceable letters. Do you intend to do anything with them or did you simply wish to call them to attention?" A voice drifted down from somewhere above him.

Koyama sighed, preparing himself for yet another completely baffling conversation. "I was just talking to myself."

"Oh, indeed, I often find that to ensure the level of discussion to which I aspire I am forced to talk to myself. Why don't you come up here and we’ll see if we can't talk to each other."

He made his way around the mushroom, which was so wide he thought he would barely be able to wrap his arms around it, and found a set of small steps leading up on the far side. Perched on a red and gold padded footstool was a boy with sleek brown hair and a blinding smile. He was dressed like he was attending a costume party with an Arabian theme, puffy pants gathered at the ankles, soft slippers, and a vest. he had a slender cigarette holder in one hand, and the sweet smell of cloves drifted and curled in the breeze. Koyama barely had time to register all of this before the boy shrugged his shoulders and gossamer wings unfurled in a shimmer of pale rose and gold.

"Hello there. I'm Tegoshi. And who might you be?"

"I'm, uh, my name is Koyama." The boy looked at him expectantly like there was part of the introduction Koyama had clearly missed. "I'm looking for a caterpillar?"

Tegoshi laughed like silver bells on the breeze, "Ah, you mean _The Caterpillar_."

He really ought to start keeping track of things like definite articles, as they seemed to be much more important here. "Yes?"

"Ah, I'm afraid I am not here at the moment."

Koyama nodded, it was just his luck of course that the person he needed wasn't- wait a second… " _You're_ not here right now?!"

"Well of course not, silly! Surely you couldn't have missed my wings. I am not really The Caterpillar at the moment. Perhaps if you come back in a few months I will be again."

He resisted the urge to slap his palm to his forehead. The boy tilted his head, brow furrowed in concern. "You look a bit tired, have a seat."

The only seat he could see was the bench that Tegoshi already occupied so he plopped himself down with a sigh. "You don't happen to have another one of those cigarettes I could smoke, do you?" He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a smoke. He stopped trying to reconcile time shortly after he arrived wherever here was, but had only succeeded in giving himself a headache. Koyama figured that whatever Tegoshi had certainly _smelled_ enough like cigarettes, so it probably couldn't hurt.

Tegoshi wrinkled his nose in displeasure, gesturing lazily with the lacquered holder, "Oh no. I don't approve of smoking, it's a filthy habit."

Koyama raised an eyebrow but bit his tongue on a retort. He got the feeling it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Why did you need to see The Caterpillar, Koyama?"

"The Queen of Hearts sent me."

Tegoshi smiled winningly, "I really should give him a call, we keep meaning to get together but he always manages to contact me when I'm in the middle of a metamorphosis."

"Ah, yes. He said you could tell me the legend of some creature that could help me return to-" _Sanity?_ \- "my own world."

Voice and eyes suddenly serious, Tegoshi slid down to his knees in front of Koyama, one slender hand gripping his arm. "Are you sure?"

Koyama shrugged, trying to ignore the sudden change in the tone of the conversation. "I was told it's the only way."

Tegoshi nodded solemnly, "The creature the Queen was referring to is called The Jabberwock."

He swore the sunlight dimmed a little when the name passed Tegoshi's lips, a swift shadow swooping through the suddenly quiet forest. "So, what's the deal with this… Jabberwock?" It sounded like a nonsense word, silly but for the sense of dread that blossomed low in his stomach at the sound of it.

The boy's brow furrowed in consternation, "I'm sure the Jabberwock is the key but I can't tell you any more than that", Tegoshi said. He looked genuinely apologetic and a little sad, "The Caterpillar would know, of course, but I'm not that wise yet. I'll have to send you on farther still."

Koyama shook his head a bit, "It's ok, it's not your fault." He didn't want Tegoshi to be sad. "Where am I going now?"

Tegoshi looked up, his eyes a little unfocused, like he was looking far away past the edge of the woods. He turned back to Koyama with a small, impish grin. "More royalty, I'm afraid. Albeit slightly less madcap in nature."

Koyama couldn't help but smile back, "You mean this one won't be quite as likely to run around threatening my life every few moments?"

The boy slid his eyes to the side and muttered something about the benefits of perceived rather than actual threats to one's life. When Koyama made a sound of inquiry, Tegoshi smiled brightly again, "Oh, nothing! Just thinking about barks and bites!"

"Is this some kind of canine ruler? I'm not going to have to track down a dog named King or something am I?"

"Ah, no. Although you finally seem to be thinking along the right lines…. You see that castle?" Koyama followed the line of his pointing finger and managed to just make out the hazy image of a structure in the distance that might, possibly, if he squinted the right way, be a castle. "That is the home of the White Queen. The White Queen can tell you everything you need to know about the Jabberwock. Just… be polite."

Koyama had his doubts regarding the level of sanity of anyone in this place, especially the rulers, but he nodded.

Tegoshi bade him goodbye with an enthusiastic hug that left him smiling. He set off the forest looking back over his shoulder and waving until he could no longer see the sparkle of the sunlight on Tegoshi's wings.

~~~

Koyama couldn't remember how long he'd been walking by the time the castle finally loomed up ahead of him, but his feet were sore and his throat was dry, every breath burning his lungs. As he reached the huge stone steps that seemed to be carved from the white rock of the cliff face, a figure appeared at the top and descended with more grace and poise than Koyama was used to seeing from a man. At least, he thought it was a man, despite having one of the most beautiful faces Koyama had seen before, on a man or a woman.

He had gentle, curving cheekbones with a small, rounded nose, dark, dark eyes and glossed, pouting lips upon porcelain-pale skin that shone in the moonlight. His suit was made of the finest white silk, elegantly tailored to his frame and split with a slender silver belt. It was adorned with a sumptuous white ruff spilling out of the opening of his jacket and an ornate decoration of white feathers and trailing silver at his collar. His hair was so red that it glistened like crushed rubies, and Koyama could just make out a single, dainty silver earring twinkling from beneath it.

"Welcome," the White Queen said - for Koyama knew this could never be anyone else - and inclined his head minutely, "I am so glad you arrived. I've been expecting you for quite some time."

The air around them shimmered with power, the man before him commanding such respect that Koyama did the only thing that felt right and dropped to his knee, head bowed low. Already, the White Queen was about as different from the Queen of Hearts as he could possibly be, for while the Queen of Hearts demanded the respect of his court and punished those who disobeyed - or believed he did, at least - Koyama felt like he would do anything the White Queen asked of him, simply because that was how it should be.

"Please forgive me for having kept you waiting, your Majesty, I did not know."

"Nonsense," he waved a hand nonchalantly, "Do stand, if you will, I cannot abide talking to the top of a head. Also, as much as I do love to hear the term, I would ask that you substitute 'your Majesty' for my true name. After all, I assume you will allow me to call you Keiichirou?"

Koyama nodded, belatedly got to his feet, and nodded again, murmuring a soft, "Yes, of course." Questioning how the other man knew his name didn't even cross Koyama's mind - a man so full of knowledge and power need not explain how he understands the things he does, and Koyama knew it was certainly not his place to ask.

The White Queen smiled, and Koyama felt his own heart lift with the expression of pure joy on the other man's face, "Thank you. You may call me Tatsuya. Now, please follow me inside, you must be tired."

The inside of Tatsuya's castle was equally as spectacular as the outside, the walls and ceilings covered with ornate carvings and monochrome paintings, lit with clusters of tall candelabras and furnished with antiques covered in snow-white velvet and suede and silk. The sight alone took Koyama's breath away, and for a moment, the burning sensation in his chest stopped.

"Tonight," Tatsuya said, smiling softly as they stopped outside a set of heavy wooden doors, "You must rest. Your journey so far has been a long one, and it will be even more difficult from here onwards, so for tonight, rest. In the morning, I promise you, we will talk."

Nodding dumbly, Koyama allowed Tatsuya to let him into the kind of room he had only seen in history books - a huge, soft Western-style four poster bed swathed in white sheets long curtains that flowed in the breeze coming in through the open windows leading out onto a stone balcony, pale and beautiful against the backdrop of the night sky.

He didn’t have much time to appreciate the view. Koyama was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.

The next time he opened his eyes, the darkness had given way to daylight, and Tatsuya was standing over him with a gentle smile.

"So," Tatsuya began when Koyama had risen and they were ambling through the gardens, "I believe you have questions to which you would very much like some answers." Koyama nodded eagerly and Tatsuya grinned, a hint of something else in his eyes now, "But I do not give up such information freely, you do understand."

Yes, of course, of _course_ Koyama understood. How could he not? The Queen had shown him such hospitality so far, given him a place to rest, it was only right that he do something to repay him in return.

"I have a problem," Tatsuya admitted, leading Koyama between two tall, perfectly trimmed hedgerows, "Do you play chess, Koyama?"

Koyama was in the middle of shaking his head as they turned the corner, and everything ground to a halt. Spread out before him was the largest chess board he had ever seen, the pieces of pure white and deep red standing impossibly still opposite each other. Two pieces in particular stood out among the rest; the red King and Queen were not carved of stone like the rest of their army, but instead appeared to be human - or as human as things got in this place. The Queen piece had thick brown hair that framed a softly attractive face, and stood with its face cast downwards, hands clasped together. The King mirrored this pose, but all Koyama could see of him was his short, black hair and the mask of matching red stone covering his face.

"... Not really," Koyama breathed out, and Tatsuya laughed quietly.

"I'm afraid you do now."

Koyama let Tatsuya show him to his place on the board, as a Knight, and Tatsuya took up his rightful place next to the King of his army.

"I will be here the entire time, but I hope you understand that this is _your_ game. Should you complete this task successfully, I will attempt to give you the answers you so desperately seek."

Nodding and fixing his eyes on his opponent, Koyama made his first move.

"Pawn, B4."

And the game had begun.

~~~

Koyama winced and tried not to watch as his second Knight all but tore the red Bishop to pieces. The Bishop had in fact moved in to take his Knight, but he'd learned early on that this was not like regular chess. The pieces did not go quietly, and if they could defeat their opponent in battle, regardless of the rules of chess Koyama was used to, that was that. He was not the strongest player, but so far his army had beaten their way to the top through sheer brute force alone. It almost seemed as though the red army wasn't really _trying_.

The end was in sight, though, and as he moved his last piece into place and called, "Checkmate!" he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. However, it didn't all end there. Through the debris and remains of their army, Koyama saw the Red Queen - another man, he'd discovered early into the game, and wondered if women even existed here in Wonderland - sink to the ground with a quiet sob, burying his face in his hands.

Wasn't victory supposed to taste sweet? Because all he could taste right now was a rather sour, terribly unpleasant flavor in the back of his throat. Koyama glanced up as Tatsuya crossed the board to join him, and the other man must have been able to see something on his face because he gave Koyama a reassuring look.

"Don't mind Jin. He's just a bit of a drama Queen."

"But..." Koyama said softly, "He looks so sad... I didn't want to hurt anyone, if I'd known he wanted to win that badly, then maybe I'd have... Maybe..."

Tatsuya arched a smooth brow questioningly, "What made you think he wanted to win?"

Then, as if it had been waiting for that very moment, there was the distinct sound of stone-on-stone, and Koyama looked up just in time to see the Red King's mask crack slowly down the centre and fall to the ground with a deafening crash. Limb by limb, the King's body seems to come to life, until he almost swelled with movement and drew a deep, desperately shuddering breath, like he'd been suffocating for a hundred years and finally he could breathe again. Lifting his hands experimentally, he brushed the last of the stone fragments from his face and shoulders, then reached up to snatch the golden crown from his head, tossing it to the side with a look of distaste.

By the time he dropped to his knees, he resembled nothing more and nothing less than a man, a man with dark hair and even darker eyes that seemed to go on and on and on when Koyama tried to look into them. He took his companion's face between his hands, his touch gentle, almost reverent, and lifted tear-streaked cheeks up towards him to press their mouths together firmly. Koyama saw the one called Jin's chest heave before his hands came up to clutch at his King's elbow, his shoulder, before they broke apart. For a moment, neither of them moved, their foreheads just resting together as they shared a tiny, loaded smile, but then they both straightened as one and turned towards Koyama. Jin inclined his head, face still reddened from his tears - tears that Koyama could now see had not been of sadness at _all_ \- and his King bowed deeply, before twining his fingers with the other man's and turning, leaving the board far behind them.

"What just happened?" Koyama breathed. Despite never having seen the kind of chess they play in Wonderland before, something told him that was not the result every time.

Tatsuya smiled, and it was so different to any smile Koyama had seen from him before, full of so much _more_ , "She is free now, to be with her King."

"But... Surely you've beaten her before, haven't you? Why weren't they free before?"

"Of course," Tatsuya nodded, and began to lead Koyama off the board and away from what was left of the two armies, "But I am quite obviously the White Queen. I cannot possibly lead _both_ sides. They needed you to be their White Knight."

They continued to walk away from the castle, until the gardens were beginning to come to an end, and Tatsuya halted them.

"Now, I believe I promised you some answers?"

Blinking owlishly for a moment, Koyama realized he had forgotten all about his reasoning for being here in the first place. The real world seemed so far away right now.

"Yes! Yes, I... I'd really like to know how I can get back home."

"Are you sure?" Tatsuya asked, and Koyama resisted the urge to frown.

"Of course I am!"

Tatsuya sighed deeply and turned to look out across the great expanse of nothingness before them, just green, green land as far as the eye could see. "Very well. There is a creature, they call it the Jabberwock. In order to return back to your... world, you will need to find it, and slay it."

_Slay something?_ "...Why?"

The other man shot him a look, "I said I would give you answers, did I not? However, I do not believe ever promising to explain my reasoning to you. It is up to you whether you choose to listen to what I can tell you or not."

"I apologize," Koyama averted his eyes, face apologetic, but really he was getting a little fed up of all this twining, circular language that often didn't really tell him anything at all. "Are you able to tell me how I should slay it?"

Tatsuya nodded once. "You must make your way to the very center of the forest in which the Jabberwock resides. There you will find the weapon with which to defeat it, there and there alone."

"What kind of weapon is it?" Koyama ventured hesitantly.

"You will know it when you see it, that is all I can tell you."

Koyama set his jaw firmly; a little unhappy with the amount of detail Tatsuya was able to give him but not about to complain. "Thank you. If I'm to find this forest before dark, I'll need to set off."

The other man just looked at him for a long moment, until Koyama wanted to squirm under the intensity of his stare. Eventually, just as Koyama was about to leave, he spoke up. "Why are you so eager to return to your world?"

Koyama was slightly taken aback by the question, but it wasn't a difficult one to answer. "Because it's _real_. This, all of this, none of this is real, not truly, and I need to get back to reality."

"You don't know the first thing about reality." Tatsuya replied softly, his eyes sharp and calculating, and Koyama could feel his frustration with this place building again.

"I do!" He insisted, then again, "I do know. Reality is school loans and bus passes and ramen shops. Reality is people who say what they mean and don't try to twist my thoughts around. Reality is being a responsible adult and contributing member of society!"

"And you really want to go back to all of that?" Tatsuya countered, "That comfortable, staid existence... after you have conquered the Chessboard, talked to The Caterpillar, attended the mad tea party, met a disappearing Cat. You're going to be content with your schoolbooks and your part-time job?"

"Don't you understand? Even if I wanted to stay, I couldn't. I can't sleep forever! This may not be my dream, but it's certainly not my reality and I can't stay here."

Tatsuya sighed. "I see. I can't claim to understand your logic, but you certainly seem sure of your decision, and I cannot argue with that. I suppose all that is left for me to do now is to wish you luck on your quest, and pray for your safe return to wherever it is you wish to be the most." He paused briefly, then almost as an afterthought, added, "Also, remember. Appearances are not always what they seem."

"Th-thank you," Koyama murmured, and bowed at the waist, "Thank you for everything, truly."

With that, he headed off in the direction Tatsuya pointed him in, eager to put as much distance between himself and the White Queen as possible, should the other man come up with any other reasons for why he should stay here. He tried to convince himself it was because he wanted to get on, and didn't want to waste any more time arguing over his decision, but somewhere deep inside, Koyama knew why he was really in such a hurry.

Part of him was beginning to think the White Queen was right.

~~~

He had only been walking a short while when a dark mass appeared on the horizon, breaking up the seemingly endless expanse of green fields. It could be the forest he was looking for, Koyama could almost make out shapes that could be trees although he was trying hard to stop making assumptions. For all he knew, it wouldn’t look anything like a forest by his reckoning. He sighed and was just about to continue on to where ever it was he was going when he suddenly noticed two men standing a few feet in front of him.

They both had brownish hair and bright smiles. The slightly taller man kept his hair longer and was dressed in jeans and a blindingly orange plaid shirt. The shorter man was more formally arrayed in a pair of tailored slacks, a white button down shirt and a lavender tie.

"Hello!" orange shirt caroled merrily, "And welcome to Wonderland!"

"He's already been here for ages, moron. It's a little late to welcome him now." The tie wearer griped, his husky voice rife with exasperation. His hand shot out swiftly and smacked the other man soundly on the back of the head. Orange shirt's smile never budged.

"We're paaaaaaaaaaaaaans!" he announced enthusiastically, the phrase accompanied by some jazz hands that would not have looked out of place in a Sondheim chorus line.

"You're... cooking vessels?" Koyama hazarded a guess.

Orange shirt laughed, a deep happy sound, "Hey! That's not bad, I can work with that." He turned to his companion, "We're in the service of the Queen and sometimes I make sandwiches, do you think that makes us _cooking vassals_?"

Koyama swore he could hear the very faint sound of a rim shot but maybe it was just the tie wearer smacking his partner again.

"What dumbass here means to say is that we're pawns."

"We are but _Pawns_ of _Fate_!"

Another slap and Koyama would start to feel bad at this point if the taller man didn't totally look like he expected it. He had even leaned his head down towards his partner for the last one.

"Idiot, we’re pawns of chess."

The taller man grinned, "Yeah, but also fate. The Queen sent us to show you the way."

"Ok." Koyama thought he would have remembered seeing characters quite this colorful on the chess board but maybe this is how they preferred to dress in their off time. "So what should I call you guys?"

"In some circles we are know as **The Tweedles**!" The shorter man announced and they went into a pose, each with one hand on their hip and the other flung out towards an invisible audience.

"But," he continued after they had held the pose for a moment, "I'm Hina and this is Maru." He dropped his voice to a stage whisper and continued, "I don't think I have to tell you which one of us is Tweedledum." he jerked a thumb at orange shirt who gave Koyama a jaunty smile.

Koyama narrowed his eyes a fraction, "Odd. For some reason I expected you guys to be more... identical."

Hina stepped up and whapped him on the head with a frown ignoring Koyama's yelp of surprise and pain. "Oh come on! We know we're only pawns but there's no reason to _completely_ rob us of our individuality!"

Maru seemed to enjoy having someone else around for his friend to slap occasionally. He linked arms with Koyama and dragged him along, "Don't worry about grumpy pants over there. We have a mission to complete!"

The men chattered to each other and ostensibly to Koyama as they walked. Their conversation seemed to be composed entirely of insults and comedy routines. Every once in a while they would pause and look at Koyama expectantly. He tried to laugh in all of the right places but they were hard to keep up with. He enjoyed himself nonetheless, trying to take pleasure in the company and not think overly hard about what had to happen when they reached their destination.

Eventually they found themselves at the bottom of a small bluff. Maru nodded at whatever was on the other side, "The forest is just over this hill. Are you really going to slay the Jabberwock?"

Before Koyama could answer Hina gripped his arm hard and shook him a tiny bit, as if to impress the seriousness of his words. "I wouldn't go anywhere near the Jabberwock if I were you. Or me for that matter. _Especially_ if I was me."

"It's that bad, huh?"

Maru began stomping around, arms flailing, doing what seemed to be a fairly decent dinosaur impression, "Big scary teeth! Poison dripping from its tongue! That kind of thing."

"But!" Hina held up a finger, "If you have the Vorpal weapon, you might just have a shot at killing it."

"Yeah, see... here's my problem." Koyama laid out his dilemma, "The Queen told me I would need to find a special weapon, that it was in the middle of the forest but he didn't tell me how to find it, or even what to look for. I'm pretty sure epic weapons don't just grow on trees!" He finished with a huff.

Hina and Maru shared a look and turned to back to him to ask simultaneously, "Are you sure?"

He had been getting somewhat better at anticipating the twists and turns of this place and its strange brand of logic. He really ought to have known this was coming as soon as his last claim left his mouth. "It's totally growing on a tree somewhere, isn't it? What is it, a flower? Some kind of fruit?"

Maru made a dinging noise straight out of a game show, "That's correct! The Vorpal weapon is the concealed pit of a special fruit that only grows on the tree at the very center of the Jabberwock's forest!" He turned to Hina and continued in his announcer voice, "Hina, tell the man what he's won!"

"You've won the knowledge and right to venture forth into the forest and kill the monster!" He frowned slightly, "Hey, wait. That sounds like a pretty crappy prize. What kind of shoddy operation are we running around here?"

Koyama sighed, "It's ok. It's what I asked for. It's what I want." Hina and Maru fixed him with identical looks of disbelief. "Really," he assured them, "I'll be fine. Will you tell the Queen that I am grateful for all of his help?"

Hina nodded and they both stepped forward to catch him in a fierce hug. Koyama was surprised, but not displeased. It was hard not to cling to them and tell them he had changed his mind after all and could he just follow them back to the castle?

Maru ruffled his hair and said sternly, "Remember, you have to get the monster to swallow the pit, it’s the only way. And laughter never makes anything worse."

His partner rolled his eyes and smacked him again, "Of course it can. But in this case you're probably going to die so what the hell, go ahead."

He waved the pair goodbye as he watched them make their way back to the castle bantering and laughing, Maru sometimes ducking Hina's hand to throw him off balance. Koyama realized his was putting off the inevitable and he climbed the hill to go and face his fate.

-

 

Koyama had lost count of the number of times he had cursed the denizens of Wonderland for being confusing, insane, rude, and just plain useless but he would take them all back if he could, anything if it meant having someone else standing next to him right now. He was probably overreacting. The forest didn't _look_ scary. In fact, it was beautiful.

The trees were a blur of blues and violets and rose, soft sunset colors, all of the branches blending into each other. They were _moving_ , sort of.... when Koyama looked at them head on they seemed motionless but when as soon as he turned his head, looked away, slanted his eyes away, he caught a glimpse of movement, branches drifting almost like seaweed in an invisible tide. Small lights glowed among the blossoms, like an entire forest of fireflies. It was amazing and captivating.

He couldn't help but think of a nature special he saw once about the predators of the deep. It had featured monstrous, prehistoric looking fish with lantern jaws and large filmy eyes that drifted through the dark trenches trolling for prey. The dancing lights hanging from their antennae attracted smaller fish, they swam right into the forest of fangs, drawn to the glow. The forest could be dangerous because it was beautiful.

It was that terrifying beauty that made Koyama's mind swim with awe whilst at the same time sending a violent chill down his spine and raising goose bumps across his arms. His gut roiled anxiously, and although he was telling himself that it was the kind of place that could hold no good, something that should only exist in fairytales, his feet were moving him forwards. Step after strangely steady step took him closer and closer to the forest, the hypnotic shift and wave of the trees hovering at the edges of his vision until he could _feel_ it, leaves ghosting across his skin like a lover's touch as they danced to a silent melody. His skin pricked beneath the sensation as the forest welcomed him in, urging him further and closing in behind him until he could barely see where he was going, let alone from where he'd come.

But the deeper he delved, that which had seemed so stunning on the outside was showing more of its true colors. Branches caught on his clothes and roots threatened to halt his progress, bursting out through the soil to twine around each other and across the floor, hidden away from the sunlight that might once have bathed this place in an even more wonderful beauty. What had not so long ago been a montage of warm, inviting color was rapidly disappearing, all traces of life fading to black as if it was slowly being suffocated out of the trees by whatever was hidden at the very center.

Koyama fought to keep calm; he had known this was going to be difficult. This was, after all, the culmination of the journey, the part where the hero ventured on alone and slew the savage beast. Besides, if this _was_ a dream, then it couldn't actually hurt him. Or could it? Dammit. Don't people in dreams always wake up before they die? And what happens if you don't… Best not think about that. It would be better to just _not_ get killed. He rubbed absently at a cut on his arm where one of the branches had ripped his shirt. This might not be any actual physical damage but that didn't keep it from hurting.

This became harder and harder to remember as he worked his way deeper into the wood. He pushed a grasping branch away before it could scratch his face and missed a large gnarled root ensnared his foot. He pitched forward with a small yelp of panic that he sincerely hoped no one heard. Some hero he was. He landed on his knees but instead of the packed soil and sharp rocks he expected, a dense carpet of rich green moss cushioned his fall.

He looked up and found himself bathed in the golden glow emanating from an enormous tree. _The_ tree. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, it was like the perfect ideal of treedom. Every glittering leaf was perfectly shaped, every twig curved in graceful harmony. It cast a golden glow onto the dark background of the forest, making the small clearing seem warm. Koyama could swear he almost felt the pulse of life under the silvery bark beneath his hand. And there, hanging just inches above his head was one perfect jewel of a fruit.

Hardly able to believe his luck at stumbling across what he'd been searching for in such a literal sense, Koyama planted his hands firmly on his thighs and pushed himself to his feet. It felt almost wrong to touch the tree itself, and he found himself unable to do anything more than rest his hand reverently against the trunk once he was back up on his feet, feeling it shift and throb gently beneath his fingers. It was a little unnerving to feel something as still as a tree was supposed to be moving, albeit practically imperceptibly, but as much as he willed himself to do so, Koyama couldn't pull his hand away, couldn't stop staring, felt his world narrowing down and down and down until all he knew was that glowing, shimmering bark wound as soft as skin and hard as glass around the trunk, and beneath it, the steady throb of the tree's core beating in time with his own pounding heart.

A long, loud howl in the distance snapped Koyama out of his daze and he blinked once, twice before snatching his hand away and casting his eyes about for the fruit. It was still there, hanging innocently just above him, and he curled his fingers around it and tugged it down, turning away before the tree could enthrall him again. He'd _felt_ the thing's power seeping through his palm, clouding his mind and curling its warm fingers around him and coaxing him in.

How many others had been here, and lost themselves in that power, he wondered. He could still feel the remnants of it at the tips of his fingers, could see it at the edges of his vision where the trees seemed to dance with greater enthusiasm now, casting great shadows in the moonlight but never once daring to breach the circle of light.

The fruit itself was as beautiful as the tree. Its skin shimmered as he turned it one way then the next, a lovely shade of blue like the summer sky. It was about the size and shape of a plum but it felt unnaturally heavy in his hand. He closed his eyes and bit into it before he could lose his nerve.

It tasted like nothing he could even imagine. It was sweetness and light and the smell of the wind on a perfectly golden summer afternoon. The flavors sang on his tongue and each bite was better than the last. It was no time at all until the firm golden flesh was a memory, like the warm, hazy days of childhood lingering on his lips. He held the pit carefully between his finger and thumb, it didn't look deadly but then, poisonous things didn't usually. It looked like a jewel, a flawlessly faceted, deep indigo jewel. Something a rich woman would make into a brooch or the centerpiece of a crown.

He heard a rustle in the undergrowth and he cast a worried glace around, slipping the gem into his pocket and slowly backing closer to the tree. He didn't know the first thing about fighting anyone, let alone monsters, but it couldn't hurt to have his back to something solid.

There was the sound again, closer this time. Something was coming. It didn't sound loud enough to be a huge ravening monster but who knew. Maybe this particular ravening monster was light on its feet. Paws? Whatever. Ok, he had the weapon he just needed to get the Jabberwock to swallow it. Maybe he could just lob it into its gaping jaws? How close was he going to have to get? Oh god, so not cut out for this. Koyama stood, every muscle trembling with tension as he waited for the creature in the forest to show itself. He curled his fingers hard around the gem, feeling the sharp edges press into his skin; he was just about to draw it out when someone stepped into the clearing.

Some _one_. Wait, someone? He relaxed almost involuntarily as his mind registered another person and not a horrible, slavering beast. The someone was about as far from a slavering beast as one could get, in fact. He - because the outside, at least, looked like a man - was relatively small in stature, especially in comparison to Koyama's long limbs, and a little on the skinny side of slender.

Honestly the man was incredibly handsome, bordering on beautiful. He had perfectly tan skin and silky looking hair that fell down into dark dark eyes. He held Koyama's gaze as he crossed the clearing, his face was solemn but he seemed at ease. He stopped about two feet in front of Koyama, hands in his pockets. The man was wearing simple black pants and a black button down shirt. Normal clothes. Just like him. Koyama's eyes went wide as his brain kicked back into gear.

"Oh my god, you look normal. You must be lost just like me. Are you from Japan too? Japan as in Earth? You didn't go to a sketchy bar in Tokyo and follow a rabbit here did you? I mean- I don't know what I mean. But you'd better go back the way you came. It isn't safe here, there's a monster in this forest and I have on good, if slightly zany, authority that it is likely to kill me but I have to kill it first so I can go home but you don't need to be here and so you really should go. I'm Koyama, by the way."

Koyama took in a gasping breath that was only partially due to his babbling, when he had finally managed to introduce himself the man chuckled low in his throat and it might have been one of the most alluring sounds Koyama had ever heard. Then the man smiled, just a small quirk of his lips and it was almost enough to make Koyama forget that they were both in mortal danger.

"You can call me Ryo." His voice was everything his eyes had promised, husky and low, Koyama shivered involuntarily. And the man, Ryo, was still just standing there looking at him, not at all alarmed, like they had all the time in the world.

"Ryo, you've got to leave this place. It's dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."

"And leave a pretty thing like you alone out here with some monster?" Ryo's lips quirked softly and his eyes shimmered and sparkled when Koyama gulped. "I could never forgive myself for such a thing."

"O-oh," Koyama stumbled, "But you, I, well, you could- you could get hurt..."

"So could you," Ryo countered smoothly, no trace of the worry Koyama could feel beating hard and fast in his own chest on the other man's face. Ryo took a step forward, and Koyama felt the grass beneath his feet shift, almost as if every tree in the forest was trembling.

Koyama slanted his eyes to the side, scanning the clearing but they seemed to be completely alone. So unless the Jabberwock was also invisible they should be safe for them moment. Funny, he didn't feel safe. "I have a weapon. And I think I'm supposed to do this alone. You know, hero venturing forth on a solitary quest into the den of the terrible beast, kind of a thing."

Ryo was still so close, his eyes were warm with amusement. "Does this place-" he indicated the luminous, flower-scented twilight clearing with a casual wave of his hand, "seem like the den of a terrible beast, Koyama?"

He thought of the forest, its otherworldly beauty, then the sinister interior, leading to a wondrous, shining heart. "Well no, and then yes, and then maybe no again. But I've been told that appearances are usually deceiving and I shouldn't take them for granted."

As soon as the last syllable left his lips he knew. He felt the realization like a bolt of lightening; his knees nearly buckled, he clamped his lips down on the involuntary sound of surprise that bubbled up in his throat. The Jabberwock had found him.

Ryo's smirk grew wider and more feral, and he inhaled deeply as if he were basking in the scent of Koyama's panic. He moved in closer, so smooth that Koyama barely registered anything below his waist moving at all until it was too late, and his back was pressed flush against the tree.

The pit was heavy in his pocket, he needed to figure out some way of getting Ry- the Jabberwock to swallow it without catching on until it was too late. He had no idea how much the monster knew about the gem but he had already made it more than clear that he was here with the sole intent of doing it harm. Stupid, stupid move.

That tickling, squirming power that he had felt before trapped him more easily now, now that his guard was down, now that it had had a taste of him. It curled around his hands and his ankles, snaking up his shins and seeping in through his pores to hold him motionless as the other man - or whatever he could truly be called - closed in on him.

Ryo tilted his head up just a fraction, holding Koyama's gaze and god, he was still gorgeous, the proximity and the edge of danger was starting to make him tremble. The man's voice was playful as he continued casually, like he wasn't pinning Koyama to a mind-altering tree and looking like he wanted to devour him whole, "What would you say if I told you I was the monster you were looking for?"

He had to think fast, he needed a little more time. He knew he was a terrible liar, but he was a _great_ flirt. Koyama forced a flirtatious smile onto his face, masking his panic with a coy lowering of his lashes. It helped that his attraction wasn't entirely feigned, god help him. He kept his voice light, "I wouldn't believe you. You don't seem dangerous to me."

Lies, lies, lies. Koyama's nerves sang with a tension that belied his words but Ryo just grinned a shark's grin, all sharp edges and dark humor. "Weren't you telling me just moments ago that things aren't always what they seem?"

Koyama didn't have to feign breathlessness when he gasped out, "I don't know what you are, but I know you're beautiful."

Ryo leaned in even further, pressing the length of his body against Koyama's and ghosted his lips along Koyama's jaw. He let his head fall back against the trunk, closing his eyes tight to keep the forest from spinning as Ryo pressed his mouth to the tender spot just below Koyama's ear. He didn't bother to hold back a helpless moan when Ryo sunk his teeth in.

This was his chance, he had to act quickly. The pit seemed to gravitate towards his fingers as he reached for it, and for a moment Koyama entertained the thought that this might not be so difficult after all. He drew the shaking hand holding the gem out of his pocket as surreptitiously as he could as the monster did his best to reduce him to a quivering mess.

He soon regretted the notion, though, when it became apparent that Ryo's lair was no fan of his ideas to destroy its master, and while the weapon itself was doing its best to help him, even lifting his arm above his waist was proving harder than it should. With Ryo pinning his front and the tree holding him back, invisible tendrils twining over him and around him and through him, he could barely move at all.

Maybe it would be easier to give in, to close his eyes and kiss his world goodbye, to let the monster devour him whole. Just as he was beginning to give up Ryo's teeth caught on a particularly sensitive part of his neck, and out of habit Koyama's other hand flew up to twine through the soft hair at the nape of Ryo's neck. It took a moment for Koyama to register the sudden change, and the magic rippled gently, laughingly, like it was taunting him and his barely-concealed panic. Taunting, or maybe... It was a shot in the dark, but right now Koyama was rapidly running out of time, and hope. If Ryo had some kind of control over the tree's power, if he were the one really pulling the strings, then maybe that ripple was something else entirely...

Taking a firmer grip on the back of Ryo's head - which he seemed to like, if the muffled sound against Koyama's skin was any indication - he pressed Ryo's mouth a little more firmly into his neck, shifting as if to give him better access while blocking his vision at the same time, and the moment Ryo's tongue slid across his pulse point, Koyama gasped and groaned softly into Ryo's ear.

As he'd prayed, the restraints around his wrist gave out a little for just long enough for him to slip the pit between his lips and under his tongue. Skimming his fingers along Ryo's jaw seemed to prove an adequate distraction from his true intentions, and Ryo happily leaned into the touch and left his other arm free, too.

"So," Ryo murmured, lifting his mouth away for long enough to speak, "Still think I'm a harmless little lamb?" His eyes sparkled in a way that simultaneously filled Koyama with terror and made his knees weak.

"I think-" Koyama barely recognized his own voice: he had never heard himself sound quite like this, tremulous with fright and helpless desire, "that I don't really care."

Ryo's eyes lit up, he tilted his head and his smile softened just a bit. "I've been watching you, you know. Since you arrived in Wonderland."

"I can't imagine I'm much of a diversion."

The monster smiled indulgently, "You're wrong, I find you fascinating. You're special, Koyama Keiichiro."

Koyama had never heard anyone say his name like that before, like he was something amazing and precious. It had to be just another of the Jabberwock's tactics, seducing him so he would abandon his plan to kill the monster. Maybe the Jabberwock got off on his victims' surrender, or maybe this was just easier than rending him limb-from-limb. Maybe Ryo just didn't want to get blood all over his shirt. Koyama couldn't hold back the hysterical giggle that rose at that thought. Ryo looked at him, dark eyes inquisitive. "Oh, I just don't think of myself as nearly, um, eccentric to fit in here."

"You're wrong", Ryo's repeated, his words warm and affectionate, and Koyama was starting to lose his focus. He could feel the tree and Ryo's warm body, Ryo's husky voice, Ryo's dark eyes all working in concert to bring him down before he even got to fight; he had to act quickly before he lost his resolve. He took a deep breath and steeled himself ready to make his best, and maybe only, attempt to kill the Jabberwock. He closed his eyes against the emotion in Ryo's that he was too frightened to name and closed the distance between them, pressing his mouth against Ryo's in a soft kiss.

The monster responded eagerly, opening his mouth to Koyama's and slanting his head to deepen the kiss. Ryo raised a hand to gently cup his jaw, fingers brushing over his cheekbone in a gesture that Koyama would normally think of as sweet. Koyama was losing his mind with each soft movement of Ryo's tongue against his, the other man groaned as Koyama lifted his arms to twine around Ryo's shoulders, pulling him closer. It was a desperate, grateful sound and as Ryo wound a possessive arm around his waist Koyama wondered if maybe Ryo was lonely here in his magical forest.

It was now or never. Koyama used his lips to maneuver the gem into the Jabberwock's mouth and increased the ferocity of the kiss in the hopes that it would pass unnoticed.

Koyama shifted it as best he could with his mind as cloudy as it was, almost lifting it into Ryo's mouth and pushing it towards his throat whilst his hands pulled Ryo closer still. It was getting harder and harder to focus on the determination to defeat the monster when Ryo was kissing him like he was water in the desert and air to breathe, or maybe even the last meal of a dying man. That thought made Koyama's chest tighten unpleasantly, but it was too late to turn back now because the pit was gone, and no amount of searching it out could bring it back - although Ryo certainly seemed to enjoy him trying.

All of a sudden, Ryo broke away and inhaled sharply, and oh God, this was it, this had to be it. Koyama's eyes widened as Ryo took a step back, shock plastered all over his face, and started to cough, violent, hacking sounds that seemed almost torn from his stomach. Koyama's heart began to thud wildly in his chest, and really, the panic he'd felt before was nothing compared to this.

But then Ryo's face calmed, and the corners of his eyes crinkled as his mouth turned up in a nasty smirk. Without anything to hold him up, Koyama's jellied knees finally failed him, and he slipped down to the ground, vision blurring unnaturally as he saw Ryo spit something round and shining and _oh, shit_ into his palm.

Ryo's sigh was deafening in the silence, not even the leaves daring to rustle any more, and he held the sparkling pit up to the light as he stood over Koyama.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Ryo said, and while his tone was haughty and proud, Koyama was sure he could see a terrible sadness in his eyes.

"I-" Koyama began, but his voice came out no more than a whisper, his throat tight and his head swimming a little more with every inch Ryo gained on him.

"I thought better of you, Koyama Keiichiro," Ryo continued as he sank to his knees beside Koyama, who couldn't manage to look him in the eye. His arms didn't have the strength to hold himself up for even a moment longer, and he slipped down to the floor, the mossy ground soft under his back. It was far too easy to let his eyes slip closed as Ryo leaned over him, too weak to even sort his thoughts into any semblance of order past _this is it_.

"Do you really want to leave me that badly?" Ryo's voice sounded so sad, Koyama's eyes fluttered open as he struggled to focus through the waves of pain flooding his body. The hurt he felt was reflected in Ryo's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Koyama murmured. "I don't belong here. I need to get back to the real world."

"What makes you think your world is the real one?" Ryo asked but Koyama was powerless to answer. The monster shook his head, his black hair brushing his cheeks and hiding his eyes. His voice was quiet, almost like he was talking to himself, "There could have been a place for you here."

Ryo slid one hand over Koyama's chest softly until Koyama could feel his heartbeat thudding against Ryo's palm. A moment passed, one heartbeat, then two, and the next time Ryo met Koyama's eyes with his own, his gaze was dark and heavy with sorrow, holding Koyama's firmly in his thrall. Then, Ryo pushed, carefully, against his chest, then again, a little harder, and again, harder and harder and this time he wasn't letting up, just pressing all of his weight down on Koyama's chest. Koyama felt like he was going to suffocate if Ryo didn't stop it soon, and he tried to reach for the other man's arm, tried to ask what he was doing, what was going on, but then Ryo was pressing _through_ his clothes, his _skin_ , fingers sinking into his flesh and _God, that hurt_. Koyama wanted to cry out in pain, but couldn't draw breath, couldn't move, couldn't do anything to stop Ryo's hand sluicing through his body like it was made of water until he found what he was looking for, pulsing steady and sure beneath Koyama's breast.

Those fingers that had been so tender, so very nearly loving as they touched him before closed surely around their prize, tugging at it until it came free and Koyama choked on nothing, a breath, a whimper, a scream, he'd never know. This was impossible, he knew, there was no way it could be happening... but this was Wonderland, and here the impossible simply... wasn't.

Ryo sat back on his heels, brushing Koyama's bangs to the side with his free hand. Koyama's chest felt like it was on fire. He could feel the ragged edges of the gaping wound as blood seeped down his torso and bubbled up into his throat, filling the air around them with a metallic tang. He couldn't speak, only managed to gasp out a broken cough, and felt his lips grow damp with his own blood. It hurt, everything hurt so much, in every way possible but he couldn't stop it, couldn't even apologize for what he'd done. He could only lie there as the last few seconds of his life trickled away.

All the way through, Ryo stayed with him, a witness to his decision. The last thing Koyama saw before the grey creeping in around the edges of his vision claimed him entirely was Ryo standing over him, cradling his still-beating heart in his hands, his eyes filled with impossible tenderness.

With a desperate, heaving gasp, Koyama shot upright in his chair, sending an empty coffee mug crashing to the floor. The memory of Ryo , his heart, the _pain_ is still so fresh in his mind that his body ached, and Koyama's hands flew to his chest, unspeakably relieved to find himself all in one piece.

He wasn't dead. Extremely not dead, and still sat at his desk, in fact. Sat in exactly the same place he had been before he'd gone out and found the bar. Before all of it. His cursor was still blinking idly at him, the bag of potato chips he'd been crunching were still there, half-empty. Even his clothes were the same, plain sweatpants and a t-shirt with no sign of the light blue jeans and boots he'd gone out in.

He was alive, and he was at home, right where he'd been before any of this ever started. A dream, a _dream_ , thank you Lord, an honest-to-God dream. None of it was real, none of that creepy, crazy world, none of the backwards inhabitants and murderous monsters. He wasn't dead, wasn't bleeding out at the hands of some crazed psycho in a fever dream world. He was alive. _Alive_.

So why wasn't he smiling?

The weeks passed, and Koyama returned to life as he knew it. Classes during the day, a part-time job in the evenings, with people that really do say what they mean and, usually, mean what they say. The world was the same as it always had been, but no matter how hard he tried, Koyama couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing. Everything felt gray, cloudy, like he was seeing things through a fog or from behind a pane of glass, like it was all _there_ , but he wasn't really a part of it, he was just an observer watching, searching, hoping to one day be a part of society.

Every day felt like it lasted longer than the one that came before, and all the things that used to bring him joy - his friends, family, cat - seem to have lost their spark. He was alive, that much he's sure of, but Koyama knew that he's not really living. Existing, maybe, but this can't be _life_ , this can't possibly be it. Nothing here was as bright as he remembered his Wonderland being, nothing was as vibrant and exciting and spectacular as the things he'd seen in his other world.

More than anything else, he wanted to believe that it wasn't just a dream. Despite waking mere hours after he'd originally thought he'd left his apartment, and not days like it logically should have been, Koyama couldn’t find it in himself to let go, to give up. At first, he'd thought he was crazy, especially when he caught a glimpse of someone in a labcoat and a top hat sipping tea in a cafe, thought he'd begun to see things that couldn't possibly be there, but then he'd seen him again, perusing the fallen leaves in the park, and later, caught sight of someone who was the spitting image of the Knave of Hearts performing card tricks for spare change. He'd looked up and caught Koyama's eye, then given that same arrogant little smirk, and Koyama had ducked back into the crowd, just about ready to find himself a good psychiatrist.

But he couldn't pretend any more, not when other people were seeing them too. Nino had had an entire crowd gathered around him, and the one time he'd seen Tegoshi, he'd been chatting animatedly with someone Koyama had never seen before, but seemed real enough if the way he was stealing food from Tegoshi's plate was any indication.

He couldn't have imaged it all, he simply couldn't. He could barely make up a decent bed time story for his nieces, let alone dream up a whole new world with fantastical creatures with strange names and hobbies. What was it Tatsuya had said to him? _Appearances are not always what they seem_. At the time, Koyama had been unconvinced - because from his experiences in Wonderland, everyone who appeared to be crazy _was_ at least a little crazy. But then he'd met Ryo, and even though he'd lost, he'd still ended up back home. Where he'd asked to be. Maybe Tatsuya had tried to help him more than he'd originally let on.

When he saw Ohkura browsing the fish in the open-air market, Koyama didn't hesitate. Slipping between the crowds of people, he kept his eyes fixed on the familiar head of hair as it moved down the line of stalls, pausing briefly now and again and giving him time to gain a little ground. Soon, he was within arm's length, and, drawing in a deep breath, Koyama reached out and put a hand on Ohkura's shoulder.

But the face, when he turned, was no longer Ohkura’s.

Stammering his apologies for disturbing the unfamiliar and decidedly ordinary man, Koyama ducked away and back into the throng, disappointment settling heavy in his stomach. He was so focused on getting out of there and back to his apartment, where he could continue to believe that Ryo, at least, wasn't just something dreamed up by a sick mind to fill a void he hadn't even known existed in his life, his body, until it was taken away from him, that he failed to notice a wide grin darting around the corner before fading out of existence.

He had taken to wandering the streets at night. He never used to have trouble getting to sleep but now every time he closed his eyes he found his thoughts drifting back to Wonderland, desperately hoping that he would open them and find himself back there.

He never did.

The constant disappointment wore him down, he felt frayed around the edges. The colors of the world around him weren't as bright. He interacted with people and the conversations felt flat, no one seemed to say anything meaningful.

He can't really tell anyone exactly why he's changed. After one of his professors practically begged him, he talked to a counselor at school but he can only couch the situation in the vaguest of terms. The counselor told him she thought he was suffering from a mild bout of depression and it would really help her to help him if he could tell her why he thought he might be feeling this way.

He didn't go back again.

Koyama remembered the night that kicked him over the edge down into this spiral. Down, down, down… but not the right hole, he wasn't going to land in a fantasy wood to trade insults with a cat that can smile. He had gone back to that place, the club where it all began. He had intended to plead his case with the barman, he would beg if necessary. All he knew is that he wanted to go back.

But when he got there the alley was empty. He had been so sure, the bar on the street was even advertising the same DJ, it had to be the right place. The steps were gone, the walls were featureless. The bricks hard and unyielding no matter how forcefully he pounded his fist against them. He had even figured out the answer to the riddle. More than one answer, actually. He tried one after another, 'Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat, It is nevar put with the wrong end in front, Because Poe wrote on both', but none of them worked. If there was a magical key that would let him through, the door itself was long gone.

Weeks passed and Koyama's hopes dwindled but it didn't keep him from venturing out night after sleepless night through one district of Tokyo after another, drifting down the sidewalks like a ghost, always seeking, never finding.

It was just past midnight, the witching hour, and while the Shinjuku station was still bustling the office district just to the west was quiet. Koyama walked with his hands in his pockets scanning the closed storefronts and empty office buildings, long since emptied of even the most dedicated salary men, not really sure what he was looking for.

Maybe this was really it, this was all there was… the city he used to love felt like a prison, the vast sprawl of it unnaturally constricting. Maybe he had made the whole thing up. But why? He had been happy here, hadn't he? Before…

He stared up at the moon, full and bright and perfect; he could just make out the shadow of a rabbit if he squinted. "I want to believe,” he told it. The moon kept its own counsel. He turned to head back in the direction of the station when a flash of red caught his eye.

One of the office buildings had a separate entrance next to the main lobby doors. It was a single door under a red awning, a small, tasteful neon sign hung next to it and when he moved closer to investigate Koyama's heart leapt to his throat. The sign advertised a bar, "The Lonely Heart"; the neon traced the outline of a playing card, specifically the Ace of Hearts. The card depicted a white rabbit, its back marked with a vivid scarlet heart. Koyama had to remind himself to breathe. He pinched his arm, afraid this was just a hallucination, a by-product of wishful thinking. The small red mark on his arm stung as he brushed his fingers back over it, just to make sure.

He drew another shaky breath and told himself he shouldn't get his hopes up, he wasn't sure how many more disappointments he could take. But when he reached out to grasp the door handle the hairs on the back of his neck lifted, making him shiver and there was whisper in his ear, a sound he had despaired of ever hearing again, the rich and indolent voice of the Cheshire Cat.

"We're all mad here…" The sound was soft, drifting off into the Tokyo night and dispersing like smoke in a breeze. But he had heard it, oh, he had heard it.

He couldn't get through the door fast enough, his heart pounded and his blood roared in his ears and he raced down a short, featureless hallway that culminated with what seemed to be an elevator. Koyama pushed the single button set into a polished brass panel with trembling fingers and stepped into the cage.

The elevator was old fashioned, with a screen of bars that closed across the front. The control panel inside only offered one choice of destination, the button marked with another solitary heart. The elevator rose up and up, Koyama lost count of how many floors whooshed by, he figured he must be nearing the very top of the skyscraper.

The cage stilled and he stepped out into a tiny dark room whose only feature was a curtain but he could already hear muffled music drifting through, faint like it was a long way off.

Koyama murmured a prayer to whoever might be listening, wishing he knew which god looked after the souls of lost travelers. He drew the curtain aside with a shaking hand and stepped forward through the veil into the dancing lights.

His triumphant laugh was edged with hysteria but he could barely hear the sound over the pulse of the music. Defying all of the logic he used to cling to, the room looked exactly the same. He felt electric, like his nerves were a busy switchboard lighting up, the flashes too quick and numerous to count. He felt like he was in free-fall, severed from all of the strings that had been tying him down. He felt alive for the first time since he woke in his lonely room, clutching his aching chest.

Koyama made his way through the crowd, his face almost ached from the grin stretched across it. Yoko was manning the bar and Koyama let out a small whoop of joy and nodded at the doorkeeper as he pulled up a stool next to him.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?", the shorter man asked with a leer.

Koyama laughed, "You have no idea. I finally have an answer or three to your question."

Baru smiled, "I'm off tonight, but hold onto them. You can tell me next time. Of course, by then the question might have changed."

"I don't plan to be back for quite some time."

Yoko greeted him with a crooked smile, "What can I get you, kid?"

He wasn't sure how many people here were aware of the existence of Wonderland, maybe it didn't make a difference but he still wanted to keep it close, cupping the secret to himself like a firefly. He leaned in and kept his voice low, "I need the same thing you made me last time. Absence? And the 'Drink Me' glass. I need to go back to the place I went before."

The barman pulled back, his smile melting into a look of concern. He shook his head slightly and his voice was solemn, "I'm really sorry. That's kind of a one time thing."

Koyama blinked; his brow furrowed, his voice spiraling up into hysteria "You don't understand. I've been looking, I waited _so long_ to find this place again. You have to help me."

Yoko sighed, "I would if I could, really. I like you, kid. Here-", he pushed a small silver bowl across the sleek, black bar towards Koyama, "have some candy." The bowl was filled with a small mound of tiny jewel like candies, each a different sparkling hue.

He couldn't stop shaking, he had come so close. He didn't even realize he was weeping until he saw the wet of his tears falling on his clenched hands.

"I got you a beer. Beer never hurts." Yoko set a green bottle in front of him. He couldn't help noticing the glass was just a few shades darker than Ohkura's eyes. He choked back a sob.

"Eat me."

He gasped at the voice in his ear. It was deep and warm and so familiar. The weight of the chin propped on his shoulder was real, the heat of another body burned against his back. It couldn't be. His eyes snapped up to the mirror behind the bar and looked into the dark eyes that had been haunting his dreams. Ryo was standing behind him, so close, arms caging Koyama, his hands resting lightly on the polished surface of the bar.

The only response Koyama could push past his confusion was less than eloquent, "Huh?"

The mirror image of Ryo smirked and Koyama's gut tightened, his entire body tingling with the realization that this was actually happening. "Eat me." Ryo dipped his chin down, indicating the bowl of candy.

The rim was indeed inscribed with that very phrase. Koyama giggled, completely undone by the rollercoaster of emotions he had thrown himself onto. He turned to face Ryo, resting his back against the bar. The other man didn’t move back to give him any additional space, they were so close that Ryo's eyes almost swam in his vision, he could feel the other man's breath on his face. All he had to do was lean forward ever so slightly…

"But- I- I don't understand." He failed to order his thoughts but Ryo didn't seem to care.

"Shhhh." He stopped Koyama's stutter with two fingers against his lips.

Subaru made a kind of warning noise in the back of his throat and Koyama could see Yoko making his way towards them, his face like thunder. He directed his question to Koyama but never took his eyes off Ryo. “You ok, kid?”

Of course they were worried about him, he had come in here looking for a monster. “It’s fine. I’m fine, really. I know him.” Koyama thought he must look manic, maybe edging towards psychotic but he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

Yoko and Subaru exchanged a look of amused surprise but the bartender nodded at Ryo, eyes narrowed, "Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do.” and they moved back down to the end of the bar.

Ryo reached past and plucked a few glittering sweets from the bowl. Koyama opened his mouth to accept them and his eyes fluttered closed involuntarily at the second brush of Ryo's fingers against his lips.

The flavors burst like fireworks on his tongue and Koyama felt that otherworldly energy seeping into his body. He smiled and Ryo's face lit up with an answering grin that made his knees weak. Ryo wound his fingers through Koyama's and pulled him into the dazzling throng of dancers.

Koyama lost all sense of time as they moved together. Ryo's body twined around his, Ryo's hands on his hips, Ryo's breath in his ear robbed him of ordered thought until all he was aware of was sensation. The music sang through his veins, the beat throbbed in his bones and the only thing he needed to know was that in this moment his dream was once again within reach.

Ryo ghosted Koyama's mouth with his own, a fleeting moment of heat and Koyama shivered. He knew he should probably be more cautious but the practical part of his brain was gone, shut off, partitioned away by the burning need to be right here.

He smiled just to see Ryo's mouth curve up in response and asked lightly, "Are you going to hurt me?"

The other man leaned in even closer, his lips brushing Koyama's with each whispered word, "Not in any way you don't want me to."

He really wasn't sure how to respond to that. He knew that the searing pain he had felt lying beneath that tree, bleeding his life away into the forest floor was nothing compared to the loss that came after, the hollow emptiness of a whole world locked away forever. He threw himself into the dance, his body responding to Ryo's like they were made to move together.

When their mouths _finally_ came together, Koyama abandoned himself to sensation with a moan he could feel echoed in Ryo's kiss.

A minute or a lifetime later Ryo led him off the floor and turned serious eyes on him. "What do you want from me?"

It's true he didn't know for sure that this Ryo was the same person he met in Wonderland. He was afraid to ask, terrified that this fragile illusion would be shattered. "I want you to take me-", _back to Wonderland_ the words hovered on his tongue, "back to your place."

Heat flared in Ryo's eyes and he nodded, voice thick with desire, "Ok, yeah, I can do that."

They left the club the way Koyama had come in, hands tangled tightly together. Koyama did his best not to look away from the other man, afraid he would wake up and realize this was just another dream, afraid that Ryo would disappear.

Koyama wasn't really the blushing virgin type but sex had never been like this. Never before had he felt so desperate, almost ravenous. He didn't give a damn what people thought of him and they raced across the city, stumbling out of the cab and into the elevator of an upscale Shibuya apartment building, their haste and reluctance to let go of each other making them clumsy.

Ryo pulled away enough to let them into a spacious one-room apartment. It had stark white walls and its only furnishing, besides the huge window, curtains flung aside to reveal a stunning view of the city lights, was a large white swathed bed. The lack of color only served to heighten the hues of the man in front of him. Ryo's hair and eyes looked impossibly black, shining against his creamy skin. His lips were rose reddened from kissing and Koyama was stopped dead for a moment just staring, committing him to memory.

The shorter man just shook his head, "You are so beautiful."

Koyama couldn't help but laugh as the man had seemingly lifted the words straight from his thoughts. "I have to warn you... I think I may be somewhat crazy."

Ryo laughed, the sound fanning the fire already raging under Koyama's skin, and stepped back within arm’s reach. He smoothed one graceful hand up Koyama's arm, over his shoulder and further still, burying it in soft brown hair. "All the best ones are."

The he was moving, or Koyama was... maybe they both moved together. Amidst whispered pleas and open-mouthed kisses, clothes were pulled off by frantic hands until they both stood naked and panting. Then Ryo was pushing forward and once again Koyama was falling, falling, falling but this time he wasn't alone.

He pulled Ryo close, nearly as close as they could get. He writhed under the other man's touch as his fingers traced the words of his longing against Ryo's skin. His eyes locked onto Ryo's, searching for something, like he could see the words of an incantation that would take him back written in the other man's dark eyes.

When Ryo's hands wandered downward to stroke and caress, he threw his head back, abandoning himself to the pleasure. Ryo was hard and slick against his stomach and each time the breathed, he could feel every inch of their bodies moving in delicious counterpoint. Ryo seemed to be just as desperate as he was, sliding strong fingers into him without hesitation. Koyama drew his knees up, giving Ryo more room, making it very clear what he wanted, and Ryo seemed to almost choke on his breath when Koyama smiled through the haze of desire, glad for the indication that the other man was just as far gone as he was.

Ryo shifted and Koyama could feel the tantalizing brush of Ryo's arousal against him. He waited, one heartbeat passed, then two. He slit his eyes open to find Ryo watching him, shaking, trembling with the effort of holding back. He was watching Koyama's face; for all of his power over Koyama, as desperate as Koyama was, he was still waiting for permission. Koyama felt his heart constrict almost painfully and he knew in that moment that he was in love.

He barely recognized his own voice, hushed and hoarse and filled with a need so strong it was teetering on the knife's edge of panic, "Do it. Make me yours." It was an ironic command but Ryo followed it unhesitatingly, surging forward to press steady and deep _ohgodsodeep_ , one hand clenching Koyama's hip hard. Koyama hoped it would leave marks, some tangible proof that this was really happening.

His other hand crept up to catch one of Koyama's, threading their fingers together against the sheets, holding on tight. They moved together and Koyama was gone, lost to everything but the tiny world they were creating between them, a microcosm of trembling muscles and mingled breaths. Koyama's soft keening moans were echoed back by Ryo as they rocked together like the tide rushing in to the shore, unfaltering and inevitable.

Ryo's hips stuttered and he bowed his head and gasped Koyama's name like he was praying. He dragged their linked hands down, sliding them over Koyama's stomach and more, and Koyama arched and howled, mind utterly gone as pleasure tore through him like a bolt of lightning, leaving him white-hot and glowing. He swore he could see luminous dancing lights, like the glow of a golden tree against the dark behind his eyes.

He came back to himself slowly. It could have been minutes or hours by the time he opened his eyes and found himself curled up to Ryo's chest, the other man running a soothing hand through his hair.

"Hi." Ryo welcomed him back with a soft smile. All of the heat in those eyes had been banked to steady warmth and Koyama could feel it tingle down his limbs. "Still think you're crazy or was it the hormones talking?"

Koyama chuckled quietly, "Maybe. Who can say? I think I might be in love with someone I barely know, is that crazy?"

The shorter man pursed his lips, putting on a mock-serious thinking face. "Some poets claim that love is a form of madness. But if that's the case, who wants to be sane?"

"I used to be one of those people who would probably tell you that nothing that can take you this far out of yourself can be good."

"And now?"

Koyama fought to keep the raw longing out of his voice but he wasn't entirely successful, still hearing a hint of it, one ragged red thread in his tone. "Now I believe there are whole worlds that people can't even imagine. Places where you can find so much more of yourself than you thought existed. But I don't know if that is anything but a dream."

Ryo's arms tightened around him, pulling him closer so Koyama could almost feel as well as hear his reply, "What makes you think this world is any more real than the places in our dreams?"

The words hit Koyama in the gut like something hard, physical. He gasped with the shock of recognition and pulled back to look up at Ryo, stricken. Ryo's dark eyes were shining with emotion and power and Koyama was undone. He collapsed on Ryo's chest, broken and sobbing, "Please... Please take me back. I just want to go back."

Ryo soothed him with soft noises and gentle hands. There was no hesitation in Ryo's eyes as he framed Koyama's face with strong fingers. Although they were the only ones here, alone in a locked room with no one around to overhear them, he whispered reverently, "Close your eyes."

Koyama obeyed and Ryo kissed him again and there was so much more than just desire in it. Koyama could feel the magic tugging at him, like playful winds were trying to pull him in dozens of different directions but Ryo's touch kept him grounded. He felt like he was melting, like the world was slipping away from him piece by piece. He opened his eyes, just a peek, and saw the white walls of the apartment disappearing, replaced with brilliant hues of rose and violet and indigo, like someone had tipped a can of multicolored paint over the room and let it flow down.

Ryo pulled away with a chuckle and Koyama gaped openly. They were standing on a hill, a gentle rise of land overlooking what seemed to be the Jabberwock's forest. Koyama could make out the distant lights of its glowing heart. Beyond that he could see all of Wonderland spread beneath them. Fields and forests, castle spires in the distance and smaller buildings tucked into tiny jewel pocket valleys. And above it all the strange swirling sky, rich purple seeping into shades of lavender and mauve, studded at the highest point with glittering stars. He wanted to travel the length and breadth of the land, wanted to seek out new and no doubt infuriating encounters. He wanted to embrace the changes he knew this place had wrought upon him.

He felt amazingly alive, hyper-aware of every blade of grass beneath his feet, of every breath he took. Each beat of his heart told him this was it, he was _home_. He couldn't hold his amazement in, and threw his head back and laughed for the sheer delight of it all. Ryo's answering smile was one of unbridled joy, no longer shadowed with anger or pain. He squeezed Koyama's hand lightly and Koyama’s grin twinkled like fox fire as he whispered, "It's wonderful."

 

 

**Local Murder Case Stumps Police**

Koyama Keiichirou (23) was found dead in an uninhabited apartment in Shibuya two nights ago under what police are calling 'mysterious circumstances'. The young man's body was discovered by a real estate agent managing the property. Initial investigation indicated the body to be intact but autopsy reports show that despite no visible incisions, the heart had been extracted. Cause of death has not been determined. Aoyama Gakuin student and neighbor to the apartment in question, K-kun (20) recalls hearing people in the apartment but says there was never any sign of struggle or foul-play. At this time, police believe this to be a singular, directed incident rather than part of a serial spree. The family of the victim is offering a reward for any information that leads to the apprehension of a suspect. Those with relevant details should contact Shibuya Police.  


**Author's Note:**

> Vix (myxstorie)'s notes:
> 
> I owe so much to Amy, she was absolutely wonderful (pun not intended) to me throughout this - even when the deadline was mere days away and I still only had 600 words of my parts written. I had such a great time planning and writing this with her, and couldn't have asked for a better partner ♥ I could never have completed my parts without her. To think this whole thing spawned from a shared, passing comment that we'd both thought about writing JE/Wonderland fic XD Also, unending thanks to Brina (imifumei) for writing the newspaper article in the last part; it is exactly what I hoped it would be, and more. Two brilliant ladies without whom this would not be anywhere near what it is.
> 
> Amy (beltenebra)'s notes:
> 
> I need to thank Vix for being a wonderfully cooperative and brilliant partner. There was no one else I would have wanted to write this with and I think that it would never have come to life without her. Additional thanks to everyone else involved, Tara for letting me bounce ideas and small samples off of her, and Brina for being my sounding board, putting up with my music, and writing the newspaper bit at the end. ♥


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